Remember 1982? A draw is not an option!

Just about 12 hours from now Team Melli will play one of the most important matches of its last 3 years against Korea Republic.

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.