The Iranian Football Memory Thread

[perspolis#1]

June 18, 2013. We needed this win to qualify to the world cup. Sometimes it always seems at the end of the qualifiers we have to play in South Korea.
That day I had a course for the MCAT and I had to stop watching after the first half. I was listening to the IRIB broadcast audio only on my phone in the car for the 2nd half. I was hung on every word ,concerned, scared at even the slightest pause by the commentator. When Gucci scored I was elated and when Ahmadi made the double save I almost had a heart attack. The final play of the game was a near miss. We made it again to the world cup for our 3rd time.

Full game:

Highlights:

Celebrations afterward(footage of IRIB office)

[KC McElroy]

June 18, 2013. We needed this win to qualify to the world cup. Sometimes it always seems at the end of the qualifiers we have to play in South Korea.
That day I had a course for the MCAT and I had to stop watching after the first half. I was listening to the IRIB broadcast audio only on my phone in the car for the 2nd half. I was hung on every word ,concerned, scared at even the slightest pause by the commentator. When Gucci scored I was elated and when Ahmadi made the double save I almost had a heart attack. The final play of the game was a near miss. We made it again to the world cup for our 3rd time.

Full game:

Highlights:

Celebrations afterward(footage of IRIB office)

According to the 3rd video Iran's goal was scored by Reza Nournia.

[mahestan]

According to the 3rd video Iran's goal was scored by Reza Nournia.

Isn't Gucci's last name Ghoochanejad Nournia?

[KC McElroy]

Isn't Gucci's last name Ghoochanejad Nournia?

Well what do you know, it is.

[Galactika]

Thats a cannon!

Mahdavikia was a very good Right back and Right midfielder. An amazing ability to cut in and join the attack.

He's DR Strangemoosh's favorite player too, I reckon

[Galactika]

June 18, 2013. We needed this win to qualify to the world cup. Sometimes it always seems at the end of the qualifiers we have to play in South Korea.
That day I had a course for the MCAT and I had to stop watching after the first half. I was listening to the IRIB broadcast audio only on my phone in the car for the 2nd half. I was hung on every word ,concerned, scared at even the slightest pause by the commentator. When Gucci scored I was elated and when Ahmadi made the double save I almost had a heart attack. The final play of the game was a near miss. We made it again to the world cup for our 3rd time.

Full game:

Highlights:

Celebrations afterward(footage of IRIB office)

now the real question is that did you succeed in that MCAT thing?

[Camran khan]

The game was held on the eve of Tasua and Ashura as well.
Everyone was wearing black in the stadium and chanting for Imam Hussein.
I'm sure that didn't help with the Korean nerves.
Our tactical setup was incredible and if I remember correctly South Korea did not register a single shot on goal.
CQ and the team kept celebrations modest as well.

We did get fined for it(as AFC and FIFA are quick to do for us). Before the game I knew we were going to see something special because the atmosphere in the stadium was what makes Azadi stadium a nightmare for opponents

You can see more of that here at 26:56
The game here is without commentary and you can hear the atmosphere

Goal is at 52:40. The roar was incredible

Son Heung Min got shut down that night

Never forget #whoishussein

[perspolis#1]

now the real question is that did you succeed in that MCAT thing?

I did. Team Melli and I seem to coincide with most of our major life achievements 99% of the time.

[mahestan]

How did CQ go from Rahman Ahmadi to Alireza Haghighi? Ahmadi did pretty well in the game against SK, did he have some blunders that caused him to get benched?

[KasraKhan]

How did CQ go from Rahman Ahmadi to Alireza Haghighi? Ahmadi did pretty well in the game against SK, did he have some blunders that caused him to get benched?

CQ was never fully sold on Ahmadi. Other than the SK match, Ahmadi's performances were rather pedestrian. He had a few howlers in subsequent friendlies.

Beside Haghighi, many speculated that Daniel Davari would start at GK for Iran in the WC. But Davari fell off the map, Haghighi emerged, and stole every girl's heart in the process.

[mahestan]

CQ was never fully sold on Ahmadi. Other than the SK match, Ahmadi's performances were rather pedestrian. He had a few howlers in subsequent friendlies.

Beside Haghighi, many speculated that Daniel Davari would start at GK for Iran in the WC. But Davari fell off the map, Haghighi emerged, and stole every girl's heart in the process.

Well at this point both Haghighi and Davari fell off the map. Hopefully Beiranvand lasts a bit longer and doesn't fall off the map.

[perspolis#1]

2014 WCQ....Iran vs Qatar in Azadi..
The first game Ashkan Dejagah played for Team Melli. A lot of questions were asked before the game about someone who was playing in Germany coming to play in Iran. His loyalty was questioned. His ability to adapt to the team was questioned. We all know that day he fit in easily and more importantly scored 2 goals against Qatar. He went on to play a major part in Team Melli for the next 5 years scoring 11 goals in 58 appearances.

After seeing the Qatari's naturalize something like 50+ players over the years....it felt good to lean on some real Iranians abroad like Gucci and Dejagah to absolutely terrorize teams like Qatar.

[Nokhodi]

2014 WCQ....Iran vs Qatar in Azadi..
The first game Ashkan Dejagah played for Team Melli. A lot of questions were asked before the game about someone who was playing in Germany coming to play in Iran. His loyalty was questioned. His ability to adapt to the team was questioned. We all know that day he fit in easily and more importantly scored 2 goals against Qatar. He went on to play a major part in Team Melli for the next 5 years scoring 11 goals in 58 appearances.

After seeing the Qatari's naturalize something like 50+ players over the years....it felt good to lean on some real Iranians abroad like Gucci and Dejagah to absolutely terrorize teams like Qatar.

He was such a beast this game.
Absolutely destroyed Qatar and had a fierce, run at them attitude that few TM players have ever had.
A shame injuries destroyed his knees.

[perspolis#1]

This one is a league memory as opposed to Team Melli..

This was one of the first derbies I ever saw and the pure amount of korkori and hype before the game was incredible to see.

Description taken from Wikipedia:

Persepolis 2 – Esteghlal 2 (December 29, 2000) –

The game was extremely sensitive as Mehdi Hasheminasab had left Persepolis in the off-season for Esteghlal. Behrouz Rahbarifar opened up the scoring in minute 56, while Mohammad Navazi tied the game up at the 67th minute. Many thought the game would be over when Hasheminasab scored a late goal at minute 86, but Ali Karimi saved Persepolis scoring a goal at minute 89 to please the red fans. During the game Esteghlal's goalkeeper Parviz Broumand and Persepolis striker Payan Rafat were constantly insulting each other. This eventually led to Broumand punching Rafat in the face and giving him a black eye. A massive fight broke out between the players. After the match hooligans went on a rampage. They completely destroyed 250 city buses and damaged many shops. Three players from each side were arrested along with 60 fans for their behavior.

[KC McElroy]

This one is a league memory as opposed to Team Melli..
This was one of the first derbies I ever saw and the pure amount of korkori and hype before the game was incredible to see.
Description taken from Wikipedia:
Persepolis 2 – Esteghlal 2 (December 29, 2000) –
The game was extremely sensitive as Mehdi Hasheminasab had left Persepolis in the off-season for Esteghlal. Behrouz Rahbarifar opened up the scoring in minute 56, while Mohammad Navazi tied the game up at the 67th minute. Many thought the game would be over when Hasheminasab scored a late goal at minute 86, but Ali Karimi saved Persepolis scoring a goal at minute 89 to please the red fans. During the game Esteghlal's goalkeeper Parviz Broumand and Persepolis striker Payan Rafat were constantly insulting each other. This eventually led to Broumand punching Rafat in the face and giving him a black eye. A massive fight broke out between the players. After the match hooligans went on a rampage. They completely destroyed 250 city buses and damaged many shops. Three players from each side were arrested along with 60 fans for their behavior.

Azadi's pitch has significantly improved from that dirt and alaf field.