2014 World Cup Qualifiers (September 2011)

Following the Asian Championship and the departure of Ghotbi, former national team player Mansourian temporarily was put in charge as negotiations with other coaches took place. Ultimately the Portuguese Carlos Queiroz was hired who brought with him a resume consisting of two gold medals in the FIFA World Youth Championship and stints with Manchester United and Real Madrid. With World Cup qualifiers taking place within just months of his hiring, Queiroz made a point of contacting Iranians plying their trade abroad who for some reason had been unutilized up to that point. Amongst these players were Dejagah, Ghoochannejad and Beitashour who were born to a set of Iranian parents but had been living abroad most, if not all, of their lives. Also Nazari and Davari, products of mixed marriages were also invited to national team camps. Iran’s first hurdle en route to the World Cup would be a home and away series against Maldives.

In the home leg in Azadi, Iran scored from their first serious attack in the 4^th minute. Khalatbari crossed the ball from the left and Ansarifard scored from inside the six yard box after the Maldive defenders missed the ball. In spite of the early goal it would almost be another hour before Iran scored again. Aghili supplied a good ball into the box but a poor clearance ricocheted off of Ansarifard’s shin and crossed the goal line a split second before Maldives cleared it. Six minutes later Karimi increased the lead with a superb header inside the penalty area. With four minutes remaining Ansarifard skillfully passed his marker and crossed a perfect ball into the box where substitute Daghighi comfortably converted to give Iran a 4-0 win. 

 

In the return match Maldives withstood Iran’s pressure for almost the entire first half but ultimately Khalatbari netted the only goal of the game on the stroke of half-time after a non-call on a questionable challenge on Norouzi. With the aggregate 5-0 win Iran advanced to the next round where it was grouped with Bahrain, Indonesia and Qatar.

Iran started the next round at home against Indonesia and courtesy of two headers by Nekounam and a long range blast by Teymourian earned a comfortable 3-0 win. 

Next up was away to Qatar and while the first half ended scoreless but Aghili gave Iran the lead one minute into the second half with a thumping header. Iran’s lead was short lived as Qatar drew level after some hesitant defending at the edge of the box by Iran and the two teams settled for a 1-1 tie. 

Iran consolidated its position at the top of the group with a 6-0 battering of Bahrain, who played with ten men for almost the entire match. 

Any hopes that Bahrain harbored about taking something from the game all but evaporated in the first minute of the match when defender Rashed Al Hooti was red carded for a studs up tackle on Teymourian. Hosseini broke the deadlock in the 22^nd minute, putting away a rebound that fell favorably to him, before Jabari added a second 12 minutes later. Iran took a three-goal cushion into the break when Aghili headed in from a corner kick with three minutes of the first half left to play. Teymourian made it 4-0 in the 62^nd minute with a vicious shot from well outside of the penalty box before Ansarifard weighed in with Iran's fifth in the 75^th minute. Rezaei got his name on the score sheet in the 83^rd minute with a diving header to complete the emphatic win and lead Iran to the top the table at the halfway stage of the qualifiers with seven points.

Iran started the away matches against Bahrain. Bahrain would take the lead after Rahmati’s rebound from a freekick was sent across the goalmouth and poked in. Bahrain would hold the lead until injury time when an Iranian header would bang off of the crossbar. The rebound would fall to Jabbari who would one-time his shot into an opponent’s head which would then deflect into the goal to yield a 1-1 tie.  

Away to Indonesia Iran would take an early lead with Meydavoudi’s strike. Midway through the half Jabbari and Rezaei would score in quick succession for a 3-0 lead. Indonesia would pull a goal back before halftime but Nekounam’s penalty in the second half would give Iran a 4-1 lead and mathematically qualify for the next round of qualifiers. 

The final group game against Qatar marked Dejagah’s national team debut which he celebrated with a brace. 

Dejagah headed Iran’s opening goal in the 4^th minute but minutes later Qatar would equalize from the spot after Rahmati brought a Qatari player down. Five minutes into the second half, Dejagah spotted the keeper off his line and beautifully floated his freekick in for Iran’s second goal. But with only four minutes left in regulation Qatar would head in the equalizer and earn the point they needed to top Bahrain for the second qualifying team of the group. After the game, and with Bahrain’s Saudi flag waving antics not forgotten even 11 years later, Iranian players did not show much disappointment about the final standings of the group. 

In the final round of qualification Iran would be grouped with Lebanon, Qatar, South Korea and Uzbekistan.

With South Korea and Uzbekistan appearing to be Iran’s main competition, Iran started its campaign against the Uzbeks in spectacular fashion. 

In a match dominated by the home team, Rahmati was twice called into action in quick succession midway through the first half. Uzbekistan eventually did score although it was called back due to a marginal offside call. With 16 minutes remaining, Uzbekistan first hit the post from a freekick before the follow-up getting cleared off the goalline by Hosseini (although replays showed it had crossed the line). With just seconds remaining in stoppage time, Teymourian found Ansarifard in space on the right and played a pass across the Uzbekistan penalty area for Khalatbari who beat the keeper with a superb first-time finish for a 1-0 victory. 

Next at home Iran faced Qatar. Nekounam would hit the crossbar in the 30^th minute and in the second half stoppage time a freekick from just outside the area by Dejagah just flew over the bar. Qatar would ultimately survive an onslaught from Iran to secure a scoreless tie. 

In what appeared on paper to be an easy match, Iran suffered a shock defeat away to Lebanon. 

Antar rose above the Iranian defense to head home a freekick in the 28^th minute while the Lebanese keeper produced a string of fine acrobatic saves in the closing stages as Iran threw everything forward. 

Iran dominated possession in the second half  while Nouri almost drew his team level when his header was just cleared off the line in the 62^nd minute. The keeper produced a 95^th minute excellent stop from Ghazi's strong header to give the hosts a 1-0 win. 

In a game at Azadi in which Ghoochannejad made his national team debut, Iran faced ancient rival South Korea. 

Ghoochannejad started promisingly for the Iranians, hitting a low drive from the edge of the box that forced the keeper into a good save. The Koreans responded with a header being touched onto the crossbar by Rahmati. The Koreans would once again hit the woodwork in the dying seconds of the first half. When Shojaei received his marching orders in the 56^th minute after a reckless tackle from behind, Iran’s prospects seemed to fade. But Nekounam reversed Iran’s fortunes in the 76^th minute after receiving the ball following a deflection from a free kick and giving Iran the lead with a quality half-volley from the edge of the penalty area, causing Azadi to erupt. 

In the closing minutes Quieroz earned himself a trip to the stands for arguing with the officials but Iran held on for a much needed win. 

At the halfway point of group games, South Korea and Iran each had seven points with the Koreans topping the table with a better goal difference.

With Iran was flying high and having every reason to be confident in achieving results in the remaining games, the visiting Uzbeks (who had lost at home against Iran) suited up at Azadi. 

 

In some ways the match was the complete opposite of the first leg. With Queiroz watching from the stands due to his ban, Iran started well and put pressure on the Uzbek defensive line. Early on Ghoochannejad’s header barely missed the goal after a brilliant Dejagah cross. Two minutes later Mohammad Nouri thought he had scored after a nice combination by Dejagah and Heydari, but the ref voided the goal due to Khalatbari hindering the keeper from an offside position. Two more opportunities from Ghoochannejad in the first half were denied by the keeper. Ansarifard who was subbed in at halftime took his chance in the 48^th minute but his shot missed the goal. The Uzbeks stunned the home side as well as the crowd in Azadi stadium as the visitors scored the opener of the match in the 72^nd minute after a brilliant set piece. Teymourian failed to mark Bakaev who had no problems to score the only goal of the qualifier. In stoppage time, Ghoochannejad had the equalizer on his feet, but couldn’t put the ball into the empty box as Iran succumbed to a 1-0 home defeat. 

Now in an already shaky position, Iran suffered another blow when Rahmati withdrew from the national team. While some speculated this was in protest to Quieroz’s tactics others believed it was due to the IFF showing interest in foreign based keeper Davari. With Queiroz serving his second match ban and new keeper Ahmadi guarding the nets, Iran faced Qatar away. 

 

Iran took the initiative on offensive moves and controlled the rhythm of the match while Qatar was content to defend while depending on the pace of their wingers for the counterattack. Qatar managed to rattle Iran’s crossbar although afterwards Iran once again took control of the match until the end of the half, forcing the keeper into two spectacular saves from Shojaei and Ghoochannejad. In the second half Shojaei was put clear by a clever cross but the ball was cleared in front of him before he could pull the trigger. Iran finally got on the board in the 66^th minute when Nekounam put a nice through-ball to Jabbari who then squared it to Ghoochannejad through a deflection who neatly controlled the ball and slotted under the keeper to score the only goal of the game. 

Ghoochannejad would score a second call which was called back for offside while Iran controlled the rest of the match to preserve the result and earn a crucial three points. 

A week later Iran hosted Lebanon and demolished them 4-0 courtesy of a brace from Nekounam and a pair of goals from Khalatbari and Ghoochannejad. 

 

Iran would play its final and deciding game away to South Korea. While a win would guarantee qualification, however, a tie or loss would potentially drop Iran down to third place depending on the Uzbekistan-Qatar result. The old rivalry between the teams heated up before the match with the Korean coach pledging to make life painful for Iran and to force their captain to cry tears of blood.  

Needing to only draw to guarantee their qualification, Korea dominated the opening exchanges as Kim Shin-wook first volleyed over the crossbar before Lee Dong-gook tested Iran goalkeeper Rahman Ahmadi with the first shot on target after 13 minutes. Korea’s best chance of the first half arrived two minutes before half-time as Lee Myung-joo raced clear of the Iran defense only to be eventually muscled off the ball just outside the penalty area by a combination of defender Heydari and goalkeeper Ahmadi. 

Korea continued to dominate proceedings at the start of the second half, but on the hour mark Kim Young-gwon on the right wing had his pocket picked by Ghoochannejad, who scampered goalwards and bent a left-footed shot around the keeper to give Iran the lead. 

The home side were denied an equalizer with 13 minutes remaining as Ahmadi produced a superb double save from point blank range from Kim Young-gwon and Jang Hyun-soo before Lee Keun-ho headed wide from Kim Chi-woo’s cross in stoppage time. 

At the final whistle and Iran’s 1-0 Iran win, Korean fans threw glass and plastic water bottles at Iranian players while the Korean coaching staff landed a couple of punches at Iranian reserve keeper Sosha Makani as he celebrated Iran’s win. 

At the end of the qualification campaign Iran topped the group with 16 points and qualified for the 2014 World Cup.