Iran’s Omid football team lost in a decisive match against Uzbekistan 1-0 on Tuesday. By this final group match, the chance to lead Group H in the first round of the Olympic qualifiers was also lost and with it the opportunity to directly qualify for the second round of this competition.

Among the best second-placed teams, and because of more yellow cards than Malaysia, Iran’s U23 team lost the chance to be amongst the 4 best second places of the groups. The Asian qualifiers were carried out in 11 groups at the first stage of the competition, with the top team from each group directly qualifying for the final stages, and the top four teams of the second stage were also added to this group to join the 16 nations final stage of the Olympic selection in Qatar.

Reza Enayati’s team won against Hong Kong and Afghanistan in the first stage of the Olympic qualifiers and lost the match against Uzbekistan, in the end, without counting the winning points against the last team of the group, Hong Kong, they were placed second in their group with 3 points with goal difference of +3. Iran’s Omid football team added to the misery and failures extending it to 52 years after half a century without qualifying for the Olympics.

Before the match against Uzbekistan, the Omid team’s performance and results in both matches were worrying for the observers. With a highly inexperienced coach, in Enayati, the omen was not too good for Iran against a powerful and organized team in Uzbekistan. But the irony is that the Iran Omid team was knocked out because of negative disciplinary points. It is a sad reflection on Iranian football as the players, with some very good skills and individual talent, lack discipline and are hardly coached in professional behavior and the importance of discipline. The immature behavior and unnecessary indiscipline have cost Iran the chance of making it to the Olympics, although in truth, even if they qualified for the next round, the chances of making the Olympics were remote.