1978 IRAN vs FRANCE - Arguably our best game of the Golden 70ies!

[Irandoust]

Great info, wow.

[Irandoust]

I am not sure if this game has been posted so far, but if not, then you can watch the entire game.https://youtu.be/pdhDU-8VuOU

[_Navid_]

The score would have been even greater if those waste of space so called student hadn't vandalised the grass and brought the team morale down.

[Bessos]

It is also interesting to note the teams we played friendlies against as part of our preperation for the 1978 World Cup:

Argentina
France
Wales

We also played some other teams such as:

Ghana
Yugoslavia
Romania


The match against Argentina was a good preparation against Peru I guess. We drew 1-1 against Argentina. They scored through a penalty kick early in the game, and lead with 1-0 until the final 10 minutes of the match, where Iran finally scored the equalizer.

The match against France was definitely a good preparation for the match against Netherlands (Holland)
Wales was definitely a good preparation for Scotland.

What I am trying to say is.... we were actually able to arrange friendlies against the best teams of the world back then. Now it seems impossible!

[Bessos]

As for the match against Wales (which was played in Tehran) I could only find this 20 sec clip:

Sorry for off topic since this thread is about the friendly against France.

[Damavand]

I am not sure if this game has been posted so far, but if not, then you can watch the entire game.https://youtu.be/pdhDU-8VuOU

Our group game against Poland was played at the main Olympic stadium in Montreal while this quarterfinal was at A local high school it seemed.

BTW none of the TMs games in the 76 Olympics was televised live in Iran. I remember following the games live with a transistor radio held to my ear in bed in the early AM hours.

[Adesor Vafaseya]

Ahh yes. The days when defenders passed back to the goalkeeper to pick up the ball.

Such a talented squad we had in Asia. We should’ve qualified in 74 but it wasn’t easy as only one team from Asia went through to the finals. We could’ve had a few legionnaires as well. Manchester United after Naser Hejazi.

We did actually came on top in Asia for WCQ 74 but we also had to play Oceania Australia back then and we lost. For WCQ 78 same thing happened but that time round we beat Australia.
(not to mention WCQ 98 we faced Aussies again)


here memories of Iran Australia in Melbourne WCQ78 we beat them on their own soil!

[Adesor Vafaseya]

Two other huge omissions from this team was Mazloomi and Ghelichkhani.

Yes but for Ghelichkhani, arguably the most complete Iranian footballer ever, Mohajerani had no choice. It was Ghelichkhani’s political stances versus the government and they kicked him out. We had a dream midfield duo back then with Ghelichkhani and Parvin.

Mazloomi’s exclusion was sad.

[Irandoust]

Perhaps the Australians were too relaxed for their own good. But from the highlights we can conclude that Iran deserved the victory. There were a lots of very talented players on that team. The only thing missing was the experience.

[Under Lahaf]

love the grass! clearly the gardener tried to be very artistic when he fertilized it, you can see exactly how he moved and turned the spreader!

[Under Lahaf]

We did actually came on top in Asia for WCQ 74 but we also had to play Oceania Australia back then and we lost. For WCQ 78 same thing happened but that time round we beat Australia.
(not to mention WCQ 98 we faced Aussies again)


here memories of Iran Australia in Melbourne WCQ78 we beat them on their own soil!

wow! we beat them in Melbourne in 1977 and 20 years later in 1997?

[Adesor Vafaseya]

love the grass! clearly the gardener tried to be very artistic when he fertilized it, you can see exactly how he moved and turned the spreader!

it was distroyed by Iranian students with Anti Shah slogans the night before the game, poor gardener had a hard time to hide what they wrote

Thanks for sharing. Brings back memories!!!
..and for those of you who are wondering why the grass looked the way it did. Apparently the night before the game some members of the then called "Iranian student confederation" - an opposition group to Shah, entered the stadium and using white spray wrote anti regime slogans on the grass. French security tried to obscure the slogans by spraying green paint on top.

[Rooyintan]

It is also interesting to note the teams we played friendlies against as part of our preperation for the 1978 World Cup:

Argentina
France
Wales

We also played some other teams such as:

Ghana
Yugoslavia
Romania


The match against Argentina was a good preparation against Peru I guess. We drew 1-1 against Argentina. They scored through a penalty kick early in the game, and lead with 1-0 until the final 10 minutes of the match, where Iran finally scored the equalizer.

The match against France was definitely a good preparation for the match against Netherlands (Holland)
Wales was definitely a good preparation for Scotland.

What I am trying to say is.... we were actually able to arrange friendlies against the best teams of the world back then. Now it seems impossible!

Also played Bulgaria in 1978 prior to the World Cup and Soviet Union after the World Cup. During the 1970s, Brazil Olympic team and British & Brazilian & German clubs were visitors to Iran such as Chelsea, Manchester United, Santos, Bayern Munich, Benfica. Also Soviet & Polish & Czech & Romanian & Hungarian & Turkish clubs and their youth teams participated in friendly tournaments in Iran or friendly matches. Some African national teams such as Tunisia, Egypt and Zaire also participated.

In the 1980s despite of the war, this trend continued but the quality of sides changed they were weaker likes of Ghana national team, East German and Bulgarian clubs. Only after the war the quality slightly improved like Poland full national team visited in 1990 and also Soviet Union "B" team, Cameroon visited in 1992 and some Brazilian club sides. Outside of Iran, Team Melli would play East German & Soviet clubs. Uganda and Guinea in 1989 Peace & Friendship tournament and Algeria encounters in 1991 Afro-Asia Cup were quality matches as well.

1998-2004 Iran played many good friendlies but from 2005 onwards everything changed and only few quality opponents every few years.

[Adesor Vafaseya]

wow! we beat them in Melbourne in 1977 and 20 years later in 1997?

Yep. We destroyed two generation of theirs both in Melbourne, ta digeh Por Roo nashan!

[euphory]

1 year later satan arrived and made an end to the great country of iran.