2000 Asian Championship (October 2000)

Iran would have a successful buildup towards the Asian Championship. A 5-1 loss against Austria aside, Iran won or tied every other game (not counting a penalty kick loss against Egypt in the LG Cup), in the process winning the WAFF Championship. Boroumand had now established himself as the starting keeper. Gone were Zarrincheh and Mohammadkhani although Mahdavikia, Minavand, Bagheri, Estili, Azizi and Daei still represented the old guard. Iran was grouped with Iraq, Lebanon and Thailand with the opening match scheduled against the Lebanese hosts.

Against Lebanon Iran would strike first with Bagheri heading down a freekick in the first half. The result remained unchanged until late in the game until Azizi and Estili, both second half substitutions combined. Azizi turned a couple of defenders and the Lebanese keeper inside out with a zigzagging run before laying the ball off to Estili. Estili would take his time before slamming his shot into the empty net in spite of a defender trying to stop the ball with his hands. With only a few minutes left Estili would receive a perfect pass from Daei across to goalmouth to score his second and Iran’s third goal. In the dying moments of the match Daei would receive a headed pass from Bagheri to slam his hot in the roof of the net for a 4-0 win.

In the next game against Thailand, Iran would show a major decline in their play and found themselves trailing after just 12 minutes. 

The Thais had gotten behind the Iranian defense and drove a cross low and hard towards the edge of the six-yard box. Boroumand got a hand to the ball at full stretch but only pushed it into the path of a Thai player who was left with a simple tap-in into an empty net. Iran immediately pushed forward and Daei was close with a header and was only denied by a tackle all within two minutes of the goal. Thailand would have their own chances and saw one of their shots strike Hamedani’s chest en-route to goal. An even better opportunity died in its infancy when in a 2v1 situation the ball was spread wide when another player would have been through on goal if it had been passed to him. Iran meanwhile resorted more and more on long balls aimed at the head of Daei. In the 60^th minute the Thai keeper was beaten by Daei’s shot from 10 yards, but the defense cleared the ball off the line. Six minutes later a Thai defender was forced to clear Karimi’s goal-bound shot. Finally in the 74^th minute Iran drew level. After Karimi was fouled into the Thai half, Azizi whipped a freekick into the box and Daei rose above everyone to head into the bottom left hand corner. Far from Iran taking control of the match, it was the Thais who almost scored the winner. A cross from the right combined with a glancing header only just went the wrong side of the far post. At the end the teams settled for a 1-1 tie.

In the final group game Iran faced Iraq. 

Although even a tie would clinch a quarterfinal spot for Iran, however, Iran would go for the win. Late in the game Daei would pounce on a loose ball spilled by the Iraqi keeper and after a lucky ricochet see it roll it into an empty net from two yards out. It would be the game’s only goal and Iran would win 1-0. Iran would top the group with seven points with Daei taking his goal tally in the competition to three in three matches.

In the quarterfinals Iran would face South Korea, who had finished 3^rd in their group behind Kuwait and China. 

This would be a rematch of the 1996 quarterfinal and the Koreans were keen on avenging their prior defeat. Iran began the game with Karimi on the bench and Azizi not even amongst the subs. The first half would end scoreless and Iran would begin the second half in a more offensive manner. Iran would open the scoring in the 71^st minute with a thunderous shot by Bagheri from 40 meters out. With little time left the Koreans pushed forward for an equalizer while Iran would go into a defensive shell even dragging Daei into Iran’s box. Iran would make a substitution in the 89^th minute where Karimi would replace Mahdavikia. One minute later the Koreans launched a corner kick on Iran’s goal. Daei’s failed acrobatic clearance simply presented a Korean the ball in the box and he in turn slammed it home to tie the game. The game would be decided by a golden goal. Daei would head narrowly over the bar but it would be Korea who would score the game winner after nine minutes of overtime off of a perfectly placed lateral pass and subsequent tap-in. With this goal Iran would lose 2-1 and be eliminated from the competition. 

Many would later blame a lack of discipline in the national team camp as player came and went as they pleased with the coach unable to take charge of his players. Others cited a lack of cohesion between the veterans and newcomers. At the conclusion of the games Talebi would resign from his post.

Iran roster: Boroumand, Fanaei, Vaezi, Hasheminasab, Bakhtiarizadeh, Rahbarifar, Mahdavi, Mahdavikia, Bagheri, Javianpour, Hamedani, Estili, Seyed Abbasi, Navazi, Halali, Emamifar, Yazdani, Minavand, Karimi, Daei, Azizi, Hashemian. Coach: Talebi