By Vince Rugari
The Sydney Morning Herald
When serial pest Peter Hore ran onto the MCG and cut down the goal nets on November 29, 1997, Dr Craig Duncan watched the agony unfold from his lounge room in Sydney.
More than two decades on, Duncan is still a proud Australian – but all his knowledge, intuition and mental energy is now dedicated to Iran, the team who profited from the carnage on that fateful night.
Iran are one of the favourites to take out this year’s Asian Cup, and for good reason. They are Asia’s top-ranked team according to FIFA and one of the confederation’s traditional superpowers. Team Melli are coming off a World Cup campaign in which they only narrowly failed to qualify from a group featuring Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
Coached by famed Portuguese manager Carlos Queiroz – who was linked to the Socceroos job following Ange Postecoglou’s resignation – Iran have arguably their most talented squad since the ‘golden generation’ that knocked Australia out of qualifying for the 1998 World Cup in France. But they have not won the Asian Cup or even made the final for 43 years.
That’s where Duncan, one of Australia’s leading sports scientists, comes in. A key cog of Postecoglou’s backroom team during his time in charge of the Socceroos, he was brought into the Iran set-up in October at the behest of Queiroz and his assistant Mick McDermott to help harness Iran’s incredible potential.
Duncan has been given a broad high performance role, contributing in a number of portfolios including fitness, sports science and rehabilitation to assist in bringing the absolute best out of their players at the Asian Cup.
For those who know Duncan, it should come as no surprise that he has not pondered the significance of being an Australian working for Iran in football since starting his new job.
“That was the past and yes, at that moment in time, I remember very little other than being obviously upset that we didn’t qualify for the World Cup,” he told the Herald. “I remember that guy taking down the net. But I have not thought one moment of that night. It has nothing to do with the project I am now working on.”
Many Socceroos fans would love to see the two nations to cross paths again. Despite being in the Asian Football Confederation since 2005, Australia has incredibly managed to avoid Iran through three Asian Cups and three World Cup qualifying campaigns. That night is still the last time they met.
If Australia finishes second in Group B and Iran tops Group D as expected, the only way they can face each other in the UAE is if both teams make the final.
On form, the Socceroos would go in as rank underdogs. Team Melli are in imperious form, having begun their Asian Cup run with a 5-0 belting of Yemen. Next up are a fast-improving Vietnam on Saturday night in Abu Dhabi, a clash which should be one of the most entertaining of the tournament so far.
Duncan cannot speak highly enough of Queiroz, the former right-hand man of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United who is reportedly set to take over Colombia after the Asian Cup. “His attention to detail, his work ethic, his wisdom, his overall intelligence is just unique. It’s just a very enjoyable experience to be around him,” he said.
Duncan naturally is keeping an eye on the Socceroos, but his priorities are clear. “There’s absolutely players I have known there for a long period of time and I wish them all the best,” he said.
“It’s obviously my country, but I’m very focused on what is in front of me. You can’t wipe away what I went through with a lot of those guys in the last World Cup cycle. But football’s a world game and there’s always new challenges.”
