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AFP - Iran woke up to the harsh reality that
their World Cup dream was very likely over after a moment of madness dashed
their chance of points against Mexico.
Coach Branko Ivankovic was livid after defender Rahman Rezaei, whose leaping
header had set up Iran's equaliser, allowed himself to be robbed on the edge
of the penalty box for Mexico to go 2-1 up.
Iran are now third in Group D and have little chance of making the knock-out
stages for the first time with games to come against Angola and mighty
Portugal.
"We had a chance to do something today, we played very well especially in
the first half and maybe we could have scored more than one goal," Ivankovic
said.
"We lost a goal through a terrible mistake in the defensive line, and of
course after that it was much harder."
Ivankovic had gone to great lengths for the match, hiring a former coach
from the Mexican league to prepare detailed dossiers on each player.
But the preparations came to nothing as Mexico regained the lead, then made
it 3-1 within three second-half minutes as the Iranian defence crumbled.
"Our problem wasn't that we were surprised, it was the players not playing,"
Ivankovic said.
"Mexico created maybe one opportunity and they were of course dangerous from
free kicks. But our players have to decide sometimes what to do on the
pitch."
Ivankovic was also left to curse the rigours of the German season with his
key contingent of Bundesliga players riven by injury.
Mehdi Mahdavikia and Vahid Hashemian were both carrying knocks, while Iran's
top player Ali Karimi had to be subbed off and Ferydoon Zandi did not even
make the bench.
"We had some problems in the last two or three months. Karimi was playing
his second game in three months, Hashemian was out injured for two months
and Mahdavikia couldn't practice for the last 10 days," said the coach.
The result will renew fierce criticism in the Iranian media of Ivankovic,
who has already indicated he may not renew his contract after the World Cup.
It also means more pain for Iran's long-suffering fans, who have seen their
team triumph just once at the World Cup.
But it at least focused attention back on the football pitch. As the match
unfolded just yards from where Hitler staged his infamous rallies, 1,200
Jewish activists marched against the Iranian president's comment that the
Holocaust was a "myth".
Ivankovic repeated his denial that the controversy had affected his team.
"Nobody in our team discussed politics, we only discussed our opponents and
football," he said.
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