Iran and Ali Daei Have A History Of Dominating China

AFP - Iran has won nine and tied four of its last 15 matches against China and is hoping to use its past dominance as a psychological edge to counter homefield advantage in Tuesday's Asian Cup semi-final.

The biggest loss for China in recent memory was when it squandered a 2-0 second half lead over Iran in a 1997 World Cup qualifier at home and eventually went down 4-2.

Seven years later, Chinese players still remember the first Iranian goal was scored by Ali Daei on a disputed penalty kick which changed the tone of the match and ultimately led to China failing to qualify for the World Cup finals.

"The main reason we lost was because of the penalty kick, and that was the goal you (Daei) scored," Chinese midfielder Li Ming told Daei at a meeting set up here for the media. "If it wasn't for that disputed penalty kick we would not have lost."

Both Li and Daei played in the 1997 match and have been key members of their national sides since.

"Seven years ago your team scored the first two goals and I remember that it was you who scored in the second half," Daei told Li.

"I have played against the Chinese side so many times it is difficult to say exactly how many times, and as far as I can remember we basically won them all, for this I apologize," he added, with a wink. Because of the 1997 match, the 35-year-old Daei remains a villain to many Chinese fans, despite his remarkable career which has seen him score a record 95 goals in 129 international matches. The two players joked and discussed their football careers, but when parting Li embraced Daei and said with a grin: "I will kill you." Daei replied: "We will win."

Li added that China was nonplussed with Iran's dramatic quarter-final win over South Korea on Saturday, a feat that China has been unable to produce for nearly two decades.

"We can't look at Iran's 4-3 win over South Korea as something extraordinary, 2004 is not 1997, Chinese players are better now that we have our professional league," Li said. "All we need to do is stabilize our defense, don't let them set the pace of the game and bring our attack forward. Then we will win."