Socceroos v Qatar: but do you remember Iran?

Where were you when JFK was shot, when Elvis and Lady Di died, or Nelson Mandela came out of jail? Aussie sports fans remember Cathy Freeman’s Gold Medal run. Some even a Sydney AFL Grand Final win.

John Aloisi’s penalty awoke most Australians to football. But for the real fan, the game that bonded the fans was the Iran World Cup Qualifier 1997 in front of 95,000 at the MCG.

Leading 2-0, playing gorgeous attacking football, it all went wrong for Australia and we ended up losing 2-2!





Speak to any fan about that night and the body language, the facial expression, still changes. It’s not pretty, even ten years on.

For many, missing out on the World Cup was the thing. For me, it was the fact that there were no competitive games for four years. Fours years without football. Even the old National Soccer League couldn’t lift my spirits.

But now we have the A-League, the Asian Champions League, and the Asian Cup. Not to mention the Matildas, Olyroos and Futsalroos.

So on Wednesday, when the Socceroos run out in front of a packed house in Melbourne to take on Qatar, most will be desperate for a win. Any win.

So will I, but I’ll also be sitting back relieved that the game has finally arrived.

Football’s main course in Australia starts on Wednesday. So far we’ve had the entrees.

Qualifier after qualifier, year after year.

And don’t imagine for a moment that Australia will walk the group. We won’t. Australia’s golden generation has come and gone. A team built around Craig Moore, Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell achieved wonderfully, overachieved possibly.

Now it will get harder. But who cares.

When the ref blows his whistle on Wednesday, that defeat against Iran, and it was a defeat, may just have been the making of Australian football.

Prediction: Australia 1 Qatar 0