Well, Saudi Arabia and Korea DPR played a goalless draw in Riyadh. That means Korea DPR go through as the 2nd team from Group B and Saudi Arabia will try their luck in the play offs.

Folks, it has been a pleasure blogging here with you again. I started this before 2006 when Bob Kellett contacted me, and then I did it again when Daryl signed me up for the 2010 campaign. I thank them both for the opportunity. It has been fun.

Come visit me on my blog lastkick.com or its Persian language section lastkick.com/fa when you get a chance.

These are tense moments for Iran and this served as a healthy diversion at times.

I wish you all well in South Africa and I will see you there in spirit and as a fan!

Match report

Now we must wait for the result of Saudi Arabia and North Korea match to be played in Riyadh.

No matter the outcome, our boys put up a valiant fight against a very good Korean team, and perhaps won many hearts when many of them came out with green tapes rolled over their wrist bands. The green tapes were gone when the team came out of the locker room in the second half, but the point was made.

Let’s wait and hope for the best result from Riyadh.

If they win, they stay alive in the hunt for Asia’s last 1.5 spots in South Africa next summer. If they lose they are out, and if they draw, it will all depend on the result of the final match in the group between Saudi Arabia and North Korea, and that sucks!

You see, according to FIFA rules the final group matches must be played simultaneously in order to prevent any shady performances on behalf of the other teams. But unfortunately for Team Melli, the Saudi Arabia – Korea DPR match is played hours after Iran – Korea Republic match because of the extreme heat in Riyadh.

If Iran and Korea Republic play a draw in the early game, all Saudi Arabia and North Korea need is a draw and they both will qualify at the expense of Iran.

Those of you who are old enough may recall the disgraceful display between Austria and Germany in 1982 World Cup that cost Algeria a pass to the next round. Here is how Wikipedia explains it:

Group 2 saw one of the great World Cup upsets on the first day with the 2-1 victory of Algeria over reigning European Champion West Germany. This memorable game resulted in the controversial match between West Germany and Austria, their third and final match. As Algeria had already played their third match the day before, West Germany and Austria knew that a West German win by 1 or 2 goals would qualify them both, while a larger German victory would qualify Algeria over Austria, and a draw or an Austrian win would eliminate the Germans. The fourth team in the group, Chile, were eliminated regardless of the outcome. After 10 minutes of furious attack, West Germany succeeded in scoring through a goal by Horst Hrubesch. After the goal was scored, the two German-speaking teams went into an unspoken agreement and just kicked the ball around aimlessly for the rest of the match. Chants of “Fuera, fuera” (”Out, out”) were screamed by the appalled Spanish crowd, while angry Algerian supporters waved banknotes at the players. This sham performance was widely deplored, even by the German and Austrian fans who had hoped for a hot rematch of the 1978 FIFA World Cup match in which Austria had beaten West Germany. One German fan was so upset by his team’s display that he burned his German flag in disgust.[1] As a result of the outcome, FIFA introduced a revised qualification system at subsequent World Cups in which the final two games in each group were played simultaneously.

So, I would argue that a draw is really not an option for our boys. We must defeat the Koreans, but they are not an easy team to beat.

I my opinion they are one of the top two or three in Asia and although they have already qualified, they will put up a good fight because they are a very proud team.

Let’s hope our boys can rise to the challenge.

Click here for game time.

I often criticize the Persian Gulf States’ teams for playing negative football against us, but today I want to congratulate the UAE team for playing positive football despite the fact that they had nothing to fight for. Well done guys. You have a good young team. Keep at it and you shall be a force in the region a year or two.

Next Wednesday, on June 17, we will face Korea Republic in Seoul.

Iran and Korea Republic rivalry in Asia is legendary. But I would not want to play any other team in a situation like this, simply because I greatly admire them!

Koreans always play positive football; they play hard, but fair. There is no challenge greater than playing for everything you got against an opponent that you respect. So, Korea, here we come!!!!!

Doo doo roo doo doo ….. IRAN

This is it! Korea Republic and Saudi Arabia played a goalless draw less than an hour ago. We would ave liked a win by Korea Republic, but we’ll take the draw over a Saudi win that would have made it very difficult for us.

Now we must defeat UAE in Tehran, and defeat them big!

Kickoff is in less than 30 minutes!

Doo doo roo doo doo …….. IRAN!

Team Melli fans, checkout this report by Mehran Afshar from Team Melli’s camp in Tehran:

Fans optimistic about Team Melli’s chances

I am working on prepping the photos he sent!

Korea Republic are through. Congratulations to all Korea Republic fans.

Iran, KSA, and Korea DPR are competing for the last automatic qualifying spot and the playoff route in Asia Group B.

Team Melli must defeat UAE tomorrow morning and Korea Republic a week later, and hope that Korea Republic can defeat KSA tomorrow. We will be guaranteed at least a playoff spot in this case.

If KSA defeats Korea Republic, and then lose to Korea DPR a week later, we are out!

But if KSA defeat Korea DPR, Iran will get to try again against third place team in Group A for the right to play New Zealand.

A KSA and Korea DPR draw would be to our advantage, but a KSA and Korea Republic draw does not make much of a difference.

Simple, isn’t it?

This match should not, and I say “should not”, be a tough game for the boys, but considering the pressure of the situation they could use all the support they can get. Make sure you watch and support them!

And do not forget, there is still hope for us. We can still qualify.

Wednesday, June 10
07:00PM …….. Tehran
04:30PM …….. Western Europe
03:30PM …….. England
11:30PM …….. Tokyo
06:30PM …….. Dubai
05:30PM …….. Istanbul
10:30AM …….. USA and Canada (Eastern) – New York City and Toronto
09:30AM …….. USA (Central)
07:30AM …….. USA and Canada (Western) – Los Angeles
00:30AM …….. Sydney, Australia (Thursday, June 11)

TV
IRIB2
Fox Soccer Channel

Internet
www.glwiz.com
www.iran.tv
www.iranfootballonline.com/ifotv