There is a peculiar kind of drama that only the World Cup group stage can conjure. The kind that turns a straightforward evening into a full blown car...
There is a peculiar kind of drama that only the World Cup group stage can conjure. The kind that turns a straightforward evening into a full blown carnival of nerve shredding chaos. This was precisely the scene in Group J on Saturday as Austria and Algeria played out a breathless 3. 3 draw that sent Iran crashing out of the tournament while propelling both European and African sides into the Round of 32. GoalZaza was there to witness football at its most raw and unpredictable.The mathematics were brutal for Iran. They knew a win would see them through but they started the game with the hesitant air of a side carrying the weight of a nation. Algeria looked the sharper outfit in the first half, moving the ball with purpose and punishing a static Austrian backline. Yet as the second half wore on and Algeria extended their lead it felt like the game was drifting towards a comfortable qualification for them and a painful exit for Austria. The Austrian body language screamed defeat. Their passing was sloppy. Their shape had gone. This was a side on the canvas.But then came the madness. Two goals in stoppage time. One a scrappy finish from a corner that hit a shin and bounced in off a defender. The other a sweeping counter attack finished with a calmness that had been entirely absent for the preceding eighty eight minutes. The noise inside the stadium was deafening. Austria had not only saved themselves but had effectively tossed Iran out of the competition. The Iranians sank to their knees. For them it was the cruelest kind of exit. A tournament that promised so much ended in a whimper of missed chances and defensive lapses.Algeria will advance as one of the best third placed teams and they will know they let a golden opportunity slip. They had the game by the scruff of the neck and they let it go. But in the cruel arithmetic of the World Cup they still go through. Austria will finish second in the group behind Argentina who topped the table with relative ease. For Austria the question is simple. Can they bottle that late surge of belief and carry it into the knockout rounds Or was it just a glorious fluke bought with the last coins in their pocket We will find out soon enough. But for now the neutrals are the real winners. This was a night that reminded us why we love this maddening beautiful game.Iran must now reflect on what might have been. They had moments of genuine quality in this group but they lacked the tactical flexibility to grind out results when it mattered most. Their tournament is over. The post mortem will be brutal. But for Austria and Algeria the dream lives on. They did not qualify in style. They qualified on a razor's edge. And honestly that is often the most dangerous kind of team to face in the knockout rounds.
