An official of the South Korean Football association has announced that its association has proposed a friendly match with Iran on FIFA day September 6th. The venue has yet to be decided so is to the response of Iranian counterparts.
The Korean official reason for the request was highly unorthodox, citing the non-availability of European teams in that FIFA Day as most of the teams in Europe will be engaged in playing in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers while the other reason that the Korean official offered was the fact that Korea wants a revenge match after two successive defeats in the World Cup qualifiers at the hand of Iran.
Iran and South Korea have a long history of rivalry between them in football. The Koreans have been particularly mindful of the results against Iran and take it quite seriously. The rivalry dating back from the Tokyo Asian games of 1958, in which 27 matches were played with Iran edging the Koreans 11 to 9 in victories.
The humiliating 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Iranians in the Asian Cup 1996 held in UAE, left a perpetual bitter taste for the proud Koreans.
For South Korea, Iran is the team who always kill off the dream of winning the Asian Cup. In the Asian Cup 2011 in Doha, when the final whistle went to signal South Korea’s 4-1 win over India, you could hear a big sigh from Korean football fans. Not because the result was underwhelming, but because it meant they will again face Iran at quarter final stage – for the fifth time in a row.
Since 1996, South Korea and Iran have developed a fierce rivalry like no other in Asian Cup. The very first meeting of two teams concluded with Iran registering a 6-2 smashing, causing South Korean gaffer Park Jong-hwan to resign.
Four years later, South Koreans exacted revenge against Iran by beating them 2-1. Lee Dong-guk scored the golden goal, which was the common rule adopted by competitions at that stage.
But, South Korea’s Iranian nightmare wasn’t over. In 2004, Iran enjoyed a thrilling 4-3 win against South Korea courtesy of an Ali Karimi hat-trick.
In Asian Cup 2007 , South Korea won via a penalty shootout, when Mehdi Mahdavikia and Rasoul Khatibi’s attempts denied by Lee Woon-jae, eliminating Iran from the tournament.
That entire rivalry history aside, the two recent 1-0 losses to Iran in this current World Cup qualifiers have been a bitter pill for the Koreans to swallow. Iran won 1-0 in Azadi in Tehran courtesy of a Nekounam goal. The return match in Ulsan was a chance for the Koreans to “Teach them (the Iranians) a lesson in football” according to claims by some overconfident Korean players. Added to the heat, was the pre- match rhetoric by the beleaguered coach Choi who publically declared his despise for Iran.
Iran, however, still managed to beat the Koreans at home by a brilliant effort from Ghoochannejad. That was yet another humiliation for the Koreans that angered their fans on and off the field. Choi resigned after the game, while some fans threw objects at Iranian players celebrating, an assistant coach of Iran was attacked and ugly scenes followed.
The result of that defeat extended beyond the stadium when millions of Korean fans spammed the Korean FA website bringing the website it down, in protest against the team , coach and the association.
It looks like the South Koreans are in a dire need of win against Iran, even in a friendly match, hence the proposal of this match!