Iran’s Journey to Russia Starts at the “Door to Hell”

Persianfootball.com (Behrou G.) – DASOGUZ, Iranian fans have barely had time to recover from the bad officiating that led to their 1-0 loss to Argentina in the 2014 World Cup and a heartbreaking loss to Iraq in the 2015 Asian Cup quarterfinals.

Gruelling negotiations between the football federation of the country and the national team coach, Carlos Queiroz, kept the fans at the edge of their seats for months in between those two competitions and after the conclusion of the Asian Cup.

But if there’s one thing Team Melli fans have demonstrated time after time, is that no amount of flux or fatigue will overcome their resilience and passion as they get pumped for their first world cup qualifier against Turkmenistan on June 16th, on the road to Russia 2018.

Although Turkmenistan are ranked 173rd in the world, 132 spots below their Southern neighbours, history and records, even Iranian mythology suggest that Team Melli is set for a hard fought battle against a ferocious and formidable opponent.

Indeed, Turkmenistan are the only Asian side that Iran has played, but never beaten in an official FIFA match – despite 4 tries! The first two games between the countries after Turkmenistan joined FIFA in the mid 90’s ended in a 1-1 tie and the Turkmens won the last two duels with a single goal.

But the voracity of the Turkmens for a triumph goes far beyond the football pitch and a few 90 minutes. The land of Turan has been mentioned over 100 times in the Shahnameh (The Book of Kings) the work of the great Iranian poet Ferdowsi, with battles and wars between the two countries that lasted generations.

Regression into mythology may seem inappropriate for a football match but the symbolism may not have been lost the Turkmen football federation who moved the game from their capital to Sport Toplumy Stadium – home of FC Daşoguz or best known by their former name Turan Daşoguz!

Interestingly, the symbolism of that change in venue does not stop there. Team Melli’s trip to Daşoguz, whether by air or land would have taken them through the “Door to Hell” – a fiery pit resembling the entrance to hell in the Turkmen desert near the town of Derweze (meaning gate in Persian).

Compliments of last minute arrangements, Team Melli were able to circumvent the “Door to Hell”, by making the trip to Daşoguz from the North after a friendly match against Uzbekistan – a match that had no shortage of symbolism itself when Iran scored an injury time goal again after a relatively poor 90 minutes, reviving memories of the 2014 world cup qualifier between the two teams.

Of course, no reference to mythological battles is complete without a few shots being fired. The war between Iran and Turan eventually ended with a single arrow by the legendary Arash Kamngir (Arash the Archer) – an arrow that demarcated the borders of Iran and Turan then.

Interestingly enough, the Iranian striking duo of Sardar Azmoun and Reza Ghochannejad where both born in provinces that border the current demarcation line between Iran and Turkmenistan and expectations are high that more than a single Iranian shot will decide the outcome of the iconic battle between the two countries this time around.

With the Iranians highly specialized in set plays, Team Melli will be looking for trajectories of a different kind to translate mythological triumphs to one that will be registered in the history books – a first win against Turkmenistan in an official FIFA match.

Without a doubt, Turkmens have more to worry about in this game than just trajectories… Torabi, Amiri and Ghafouri’s unstoppable runs on the flanks in the Uzbekistan match, wearing jerseys that fashioned the Asiatic Cheetah, made it difficult not to draw parallels to the mythical and powerful Rostam who went to battle the Turanians like a leopard when he saw the hunt!

But Rostam’s greatest story and one that all Team Melli fans heard as a child, is the story of his triumph after traversing “the 7 doors”. With Team Melli having already travelled beyond the “Door to Hell” and Derweze (also meaning football net in Persian) we cannot help but wonder if they will only be making history in this game with a win, or take their place amongst the greatest Iranian mythological legends by scoring 5 goals.