The Turning Point
A bizarre incident involving a pitch invader, Peter Hoar, briefly stopped the game. Hoar tore open the Iranian goal net, causing a 10-minute delay. This unexpected interruption seemed to disrupt the Australians’ rhythm while simultaneously allowing the Iranian players to regroup. Abedzadeh, the Iranian captain, performed acrobatic stunts and backflips to rally his teammates and boost their morale.
Iran’s determination finally bore fruit in the 76th minute, when Karim Bagheri scored from close range, assisted by Khodad Azizi and Ebrahim Tohami. The goal breathed new life into the Iranian team, who now needed just one more goal to qualify on the away goals rule.
Moments later, in the 79th minute, Iran delivered the decisive blow. A perfectly timed through ball from Ali Daei found Khodad Azizi in a one-on-one situation with Australian goalkeeper Mark Bosnich. Azizi calmly slotted the ball into the net, bringing the score to 2–2. The away goals rule now favored Iran, and despite Australia’s desperate attempts to score in the closing minutes, they could not find a winner.