Originally posted by KC McElroy
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The build up to the game as I mentioned earlier was that nobody believed we deserved the score line we ended up with in the first leg. Losing Parvin was a huge blow and really affected our midfield. He was our playmaker. So for the return leg with him back and playing at home, pretty much everyone was confident that we can get the result needed to at least send it to a third game.
Please note, in those days there was no "away goal rule" in affect. So even if Australia scored a goal or two we could have tied the aggregate as long as we scored 3 more goals than them. Also if the aggregate was tied after 2 games they would hold a third game in a neutral country to decide the winner.
Aryemehr Stadium had just been inaugurated only 2 or 3 months before this match. And even though the stadium was not fully packed that day it was extremely noisy and really scared the Aussies. You could tell how nervous they were by the way they were playing. TM was hungry like no other and scored 2 goals in the first 30 min. The Aussie coach really re arranged his team after the second goal and went totally defensive and parked the bus as its known today.
After that TM attacked and attacked and attacked. I don't recall Rashidi touching the ball hardly for the rest of the game. The ball was pretty much played in the Aussie half and in front of their goal but with them gone all out defensive it was difficult penetrating it. Still TM had a good number of chances to get that important third goal but luck was not our side.
So the game along with the return Ireland game in 2001 ended up being the most bitter victory in the history of TM. I really blame the coaching staff (Bayati) for this loss. Their decision to play New Zealand just days prior to the first leg was horrific and fatal to the campaign.
But as mentioned by another member this loss made TM much stronger, and for next WCQ with a much better coaching staff and many younger players they qualified for the WC without a single loss and only conceding 3 goals in 11 games. We were the sole representative form Asia and Oceania, And to top it all off, TM defeated the Aussies in Melbourne from a sweet goal from Hassan Rowshan. That was the real revenge to the bitter loss 4 years earlier.
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