|
1950s Asian Games By: Ramin Sadr 1951 Asian Games (March 1951) Iran took part in the 1951 Asian Games with some well-known players such as Nader Afshar-Alavinejad, Hossein Fekri and Masoud Boroomand, and coached by Salimi. In this condensed version of what the Asian Games would eventually become, Iran initially faced Burma and managed to defeat them thanks to goals by Afshar-Alavinejad and Koozehkanani. The next opponent was Japan and Iran took the field against them in the first ever match between the two countries. While the match itself had plenty of opportunities, the game, and its accompanying two 7-minute overtime periods ended scoreless and thus required a replay. In the replay, in the opening minutes of the match Masoud-Ansari opened the scoring for Iran but only minutes later Japan earned a penalty kick. Few gave Agha-Hosseini, the injured Iranian keeper, a chance (there were no substitutions back then) but he acrobatically saved the Japanese kick. Nevertheless the Japanese managed to tie the score just before halftime. In the second half against the run of play Masoud-Ansari scored his second goal but once again the Japanese came back and 10 minutes later tied the game. In the closing minutes Masoud-Ansari unleashed a vicious shot that bounced off of the Japanese post and whose rebound fell to Boroomand who buried his shot and sent Iran to the championship game against India. In addition to the extra game that Iran had to play, the heat of Delhi also posed a problem for the players, yet the two teams battled it but early in the second half a giveaway in midfield enabled a barefooted India to launch a counterattack and score the game's only goal, deflecting off of Agha-Hosseini's out-stretched hand, and force Iran into 2nd place. Iran roster: Agha-Hosseini, Tari, Araghi, Gholizadeh, Nasiroghloo, Afshar-Alavinejad, Markarian, Soroodi, Shakibi, Afshar-Naderi, Fekri, Hajian, Bayati, Azad, Koozehkanani, Masoud-Ansari, Boroomand. Coach: Salimi 1954 Asian Games (May 1954)With the Asian Games far from being a prestigious tournament and the heavy cost of transportation for the flight to the Philippines, Iran chose to withdraw its participation in the 1954 Asian Games. 1956 Asian Championship Qualifiers (May 1956)For the first edition of the Asian Championship, Iran was drawn to play India in the first round of Asia's Western Zone, although both teams, in addition to all other teams in the zone aside from Israel, withdrew. No matches were played and Israel qualified for the tournament without playing any qualifying matches. 1958 Asian Games (May 1958)In spite of having such talent as a returning Afshar-Alavinejad and Bayati, and new players like Dehdari, Iran had a very poor showing at the 1958 Asian Games in Japan. In its first match, Iran was overpowered by a strong Israeli side by a lopsided 4-0 score and followed it up with a 5-0 defeat against South Korea to be eliminated from the competition.  Iran roster: Mohammad Bayati, Jafarzadeh, Afshar-Alavinejad, Gholizadeh, Araghi, Arghavani, Dehdari, Erfan, Hatam, Beheshti, Mahmood Bayati, Koozehkanani, Jedikar, Boroomand. Coach: Mészáros  Front Page |