1972 Olympic Qualifiers (September 1971)

Qualification for the 1972 Olympics began with a match at home against Kuwait in a qualification phase that also saw Iraq and North Korea as contenders. With Hejazi in goal, Iran opted for a 4-3-3 formation and began the game with numerous attacks on the Kuwaiti goal. 

Only 19 minutes was what it took for Iranpak to execute a pinpoint pass to Parvin who slammed his shot past the Kuwaiti goalkeeper. Sensing a one goal lead would not be sufficient, Iran intensified its attacks in the second half and managed to score again through a clever shot by Jabbari. Kuwait tried to get back in the game and reduce the deficit, but its attacks bore no results and Iran won the first leg 2-0. Kuwait would later complain about the quality of the pitch and allege that its players had been poisoned (presumably by Iran) prior to the match. 

 

Kuwait’s inability to host the second leg prompted them to schedule it to be played in Egypt, however, shortly before the game Egypt announced it had to turn down both teams as its fields were occupied by their domestic teams. As a result after a two-week delay the return leg finally took place in Athens, Greece.  

The first half was spent fairly equal for both teams, but in the second half it was Iran who got on the scoreboard. Mazloomi headed Jabbari’s cross for the first goal. 

A brilliant pass by Mazloomi enabled Parvin to dribble through two players and double the lead, and ultimately win the series 4-0 on aggregate. 

 

The next, and last, obstacle on the way to the Olympics was North Korea who had eliminated a strong Iraqi side. With only a few changes compared to the Kuwait series, Iran took the field away against the Koreans. 

An all out defense seemed to be Iran’s game plan with at times 10 players coming back to defend, yet the abundance of Iranian players in their own half meant nothing to the Koreans who would be present in the penalty box almost at will. Numerous shots seemed goal bound but Hejazi had a career game and stuffed one Korean chance after another. To the disbelief of most, the game ended scoreless.

 

 

Three weeks later everyone was under the impression that as hosts Iran would easily overcome the Korean squad, but it almost turned out to be a repeat of the first leg. In an objectionable performance, Iran was very lucky to escape with another scoreless tie with the ref turning a blind eye to the Korean protests for a penalty kick.

 

With both games ending in a draw, a third game was scheduled on a neutral site, Pakistan, to determine the winner. A similar lineup yet different team showed up in Pakistan and Iran negated most predictions by scoring in the first half with a goal by Iranpak. In the second half, Kalani who had created the 1^st goal, this time had the finishing touch on Mazloomi’s pass, thus enabling Iran to defeat North Korea 2-0 and book its ticket to the Olympics where it would face Denmark, Hungary and Brazil.