1980 Olympic Qualifiers (March 1980)

Lack of any warmup games seemed to be Iran’s biggest problem as it went into the qualification phase of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. The qualification stage took part in Singapore in round robin format. The two top teams would face one another again to determine Asia’s representative in the Olympics.

While the North Koreans were no where near the magical team they had in 1966, however, they proved to still have enough of a punch to force a scoreless draw out of Iran in the first step. 

In a stadium that provided an inadequate surface due to the downpour preceding the game, Iran faced China.

Following a scoreless first half, Barzegari gave Iran the lead by burying the rebound of Alidoosti’s shot off of the post. This goal seemed to awaken the Chinese as they suddenly started firing on all cylinders. A wet and not so threatening ball slipped through Hejazi’s hands to tie the game and two minutes later the Chinese took the lead. With only minutes remaining, Ebrahimzadeh who had replaced Faraki, equalized with a thunderous shot thus giving each team a share of the points.

Next up were the host team, Singapore. With two wins in their first two games, Singapore had emerged as a contender and a jam-packed stadium filled with 60 thousand spectators anticipated a third win. While the two teams played an uneventful first half, it was Iran who took charge in the second half. Ebrahimzadeh connected on Faraki’s pass to open the floodgates while Faraki himself scored seven minutes later following a goalmouth scramble. With the ref ready to blow the final whistle, Alidoosti took advantage of Ebrahimzadeh’s pass to finish off Singapore with a 3-0 thrashing.

While everyone anticipated an easy game against India, however, the Indians gave Iran a run for their money.

Approximately 80 minutes of attacking yielded no result until finally Barzegari’s individual run put him past four Indian players and he hammered home his final shot. A minute later Alidoosti scored from almost an identical spot to double the lead. A 2-0 win came much harder than it should have. 

There was no repeat of this scenario against Sri Lanka which were presented with 11 unanswered goals courtesy of Fariba (3), Faraki (3), Barzegari (2), Alidoosti, Khabiri and Nalchegar. 

With this win, Iran advanced to the final game where it would once again face the host team, Singapore. With Singapore looking for revenge for their initial loss, Iran went even better and crushed their host with four goals. Faraki (2), Fariba and Barzegari scored to ensure Iran’s presence in the Olympics. 

 

However, only months after qualification had been secured, the IFF decided to pull out of the tournament in a sign of protest to the Soviet Union’s occupation of Afghanistan and thus a fourth presence in the Olympics for Iran’s soccer team would be postponed.