Then came a two-goal blast from Karim Bagheri and Khodadad Azizi and suddenly Iran were through on the away goals rule to their first World Cup finals since 1978.

It was a dramatic end to the most tortuous of all qualifying routes. Iran could only finish second in their final Asian qualifying group, plunging them into a play-off with Japan in Malaysia, which they lost 3-2 on the golden goal rule in extra-time.

But there was another chance, a two-legged play-off with Oceania Zone winner Australia. A 1-1 draw in Tehran left them up against in Melbourne, but the rest is history.

It was vintage Iran - flashes of brilliance from their three star players in attack glossing over a mediocre defence. Azizi, Ali Daei and Bagheri, all of whom play in Germany's Bundesliga, are the three jewels in the Iranian crown.

The turmoil on the field during qualifying rounds was matchedby chaos off it. Power struggles within the politically-charged soccer federation saw the firing of a federation head, two coaches and high-level meddling in the team's line-up, including the benching of star player Azizi in early qualification rounds.

That decision cost then coach Majeli Kohan his job and low-profile Brazilian Valdir Vieira took over, guiding the team along their rocky patch to France. His reward for getting Iran there was to be replaced by the better-known Croat coach Tomislav Ivic.

Despite that Iran have weathered the storms to re-emerge as one of Asia's soccer powers, just as they were in 1970s. The 1980s were a bad time for Iranian soccer, just as its Asian competitors began to raise their calibre of play.

Revolution, war with Iraq, and a deteriorating economy took their toll on Iranian soccer, as youth programme and professional leagues struggled to find funding. Iran moved to the back of the Asian soccer pack behind Kuwait, Japan, South Korea, and later Saudi Arabia.

Theturning point came on December 11, 1996 when Iran trounced a powerful Saudi side, 3-0 in the Asian Cup tournament. Named Asia's `Team Of The Year' in 1977, Iran were early favourites to qualify for the World Cup.

Throughout qualifying, Iran displayed a weak defence and an explosive, if inconsistent, attack. Iran's defence is a major weakness that coach Ivic has said he is determined to strengthen.

Facing criticism from fans and media, Ivic has said Iran's weak results in warm-up friendlies in April, including 2-0 defeat by Hungary, could be a blessing in disguise if they encourage their World Cup opponents to under-estimate them.

Ivic said Iran's training had suffered from lack of access to a good pitch, bad weather and the absence of Daei, Bagheri and Azizi - away on club duty in Germany.

Ivic is known as a defensive-minded coach and Iran will certainly need to be defensively secure against strong European sides Germany and Yugoslavia in group F in France. Iran will certainly need a herculean effortto make it to the second round, as Ivic admits.

Return from wilderness

Belgrade: Yugoslavia will return to the world stage in France after six years in soccer wilderness.

International sanctions imposed against Belgrade, after war broke out in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina meant that Yugoslavia, now consisting of Serbia and Montenergro, missed out on the European championships in Sweden in 1992 (after qualifying for the finals), the World Cup in United States in 1994 and Euro '96 in England.

It was all the more painful for the Yugoslavs as they had a generation of outstanding players reaching their peak, robbed of a chance to fulfill their potential.

Yugoslavia reached the last eight of the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy before falling to Argentina and the country's top club side, Red Star Belgrade, won the European Cup in 1991. But that Red Star side, and that of rivals partisan Belgrade, was decimated by a mass exodus of players to western countries, following the outbreak ofwar.

When the sports sanctions were lifted in December 1994, newly-appointed manager Slobodan Santrac had to start from scratch.