The football match between the national teams of Japan and Iraq was held on October 28, 1993 and was the game of the last round of the qualifying tournament for the 1994 World Cup in the AFC zone . The game was held in the Qatari capital Doha in the presence of 4 thousand spectators. The Japanese team in this match was to decide the fate of the ticket to the World Cup: a victory would allow the Japanese for the first time in their history to get into the tournament, regardless of the results of parallel matches, but a draw was permissible only in certain situations in other matches. The meeting was judged by the Swiss referee Serge Mumentaler. The match, dramatic in its content, ended in a draw 2: 2 - the Japanese team missed the victory in the last seconds, losing in the end in absentia confrontation with the South Korean team , which qualified for the World Cup in the USA; Japan took 3rd place in the group.
| Football match Japan - Iraq | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament | 1994 World Cup (Qualification, Asia) | ||||||
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| date | October 28, 1993 16:15 ( UTC + 3: 00 ) | ||||||
| Stadium | Al-Ahly ,  Doha | ||||||
| Arbitrator |  Serge Mumethaler | ||||||
| Attendance | 4000 | ||||||
In the Japanese media, the event was called “The Tragedy in Doha” or “The Agony in Doha” [1] ( Japanese ド ー ハ の 悲劇 , Doha no Higeki ), and in the South Korean media, this match became known as “The Miracle in Doha” ( cor. 도하 의 기적 / 도하 의 奇跡 , Doha-i-gizzhok ). The failure of the team, which was very close to a historic hit at the World Cup, became one of the most important events in the history of Japanese football , and the phrases “Doha Class” ( Japanese ド ー ハ 組 , Doha Gumi ) and “Never Forget Doha” ( Japanese ド ー ハを 忘 れ る な , Doha of Vasurerun ) became winged in the country's sports culture. However, this failure did not break the leadership of the Japan Football Association , which continued to develop the newly formed professional J-League . In the future, its development allowed the team to qualify for the 1998 World Cup and since then not to miss a single world championship.
Background
Six teams competed in the final round of the qualifying tournament for the World Cup: Japan , South Korea , Saudi Arabia , Iraq , Iran and the DPRK . All six teams played against each other in a single round tournament in Doha from October 15 to 28, 1993. After four rounds, the position in the table was as follows:
| Team | ABOUT | AND | AT | N | P | 3G | PG | WG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | five | four | 2 | one | one | five | 2 | 3 |
| Saudi Arabia | five | four | one | 3 | 0 | four | 3 | one |
| The Republic of Korea | four | four | one | 2 | one | 6 | four | 2 |
| Iraq | four | four | one | 2 | one | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Iran | four | four | 2 | 0 | 2 | five | 7 | -2 |
| DPRK | 2 | four | one | 0 | 3 | five | 9 | -four |
According to the rules in force, 2 points were awarded for a victory, 1 point for a draw, and no points were given for losing; in case of equality of points, the team with the best difference between goals scored and goals went first.
According to the results of the fourth round, the Japanese team took an intermediate 1st place in the group after defeating South Korea with a score of 1-0. However, the teams from 1st to 5th still retained chances of getting to the World Cup by the last round; Only the DPRK team dropped out of the fight. The Japanese team was satisfied with a victory with any score, and in this case, no result in a parallel match would prevent the Japanese from getting into the final stage. A draw was permissible only if South Korea lost points in a match with North Korea or Saudi Arabia in a match with Iran, and the Saudis should not have lost to Iran with a difference of more than 4 goals.
Gameplay
All three decisive matches started at the same time on October 28, 1993 in Doha at 16:15 local time: the teams of South Korea and North Korea, the teams of Saudi Arabia and Iran, the teams of Japan and Iraq began their meetings at the same time. The score was opened already in the 5th minute by the Japanese Kazuyoshi Miura , however, after a break in the 54th minute Radi Shenaishil equalized. In the 80th minute, the Japanese put forward Masashi Nakayama , making the score 2: 1. By the 90th minute of the match, the Japanese and Iraqis had already received information that South Korea won the North Korean national team 3-0, and Saudi Arabia won Iran 4-3. This meant that the Japanese had to hold the victory at all costs.
However, in compensated time, the Iraqi player Jaffar Omran Salman, who replaced at half-time, after cornering, won the fight in the air and sent the second ball into the net of the Japanese goal, leveling the score and shocking the Japanese team [2] . The judge immediately gave the final whistle after this goal, and thus the teams of Saudi Arabia and South Korea went to the World Cup.
Meeting Details
October 28, 1993 16:15 UTC + 3 |
| Japan | 2 - 2 | Iraq |
|---|---|---|
| Kazuyoshi Miura five' Masashi Nakayama 80 ' | Report | For the sake of Shenaishil 54 ' Jaffar Omran Salman 90 + 1 ' |
Al-Ahly Doha Spectators: 4000 Judge: Serge Mumethaler |
Japan | Iraq |
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Consequences
Tournament Results
The tournament ended after the fifth round, and the table acquired the following form:
| Team | ABOUT | AND | AT | N | P | 3G | PG | WG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 7 | five | 2 | 3 | 0 | eight | 6 | 2 |
| The Republic of Korea | 6 | five | 2 | 2 | one | 9 | four | five |
| Japan | 6 | five | 2 | 2 | one | 7 | four | 3 |
| Iraq | five | five | one | 3 | one | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Iran | four | five | 2 | 0 | 3 | eight | eleven | -3 |
| DPRK | 2 | five | one | 0 | four | five | 12 | -7 |
The Saudi team won first place in the group, and the Japanese team lost second place to South Korea due to the worst difference between goals scored and goals conceded: the victory of the South Koreans over the North played a decisive role in the distribution of the final places. Hans Oft , head coach of the Japanese national team, was dismissed from his post, and many players ended their careers in the national team, including Brazilian midfielder Rui Ramos . Of that roster, only Masashi Nakayama and Masami Ihara played 5 years later at the 1998 World Cup.
Further Impact on Japan Football
Despite the failure in Doha, this match inspired the Japanese to further continue the struggle for getting into the world championships. In the qualifying tournament for the 1998 World Cup, the format of the Asian selection was changed: from now on, the matches were played in two circles on the principle of “home” and “guest” meetings. In 1997, the national teams of Japan and Iran took second places in their qualifying groups for the World Cup and met in a butt match on November 16, 1997 in the Malaysian city of Johor Bahru : the winner of the match received the only remaining direct ticket from the AFC zone to the World Cup, and the loser had to play butt games against Australia .
In contrast to the meeting four years ago, Japan lost during the match, but at the very end of the second half equalized, and in overtime, by the rule of the golden goal, she won with a score of 3: 2 and got to the World Cup. In the press, this match became known as the “Joy of Johor Bahru” ( Jap. ジ ョ ホ ー ル バ ル の 歓 喜 , Johorubaru no kanki ) by analogy with Agony of Doha. Since then, the Japanese team has not missed a single World Cup, including speaking in 2002 with South Korea as the organizing country.
In popular culture
- In the manga and anime series “ Space Brothers ”, the date of birth of the protagonist named Namba Mutta is October 28, 1993, and he loves to explain all his failures with this date.
- The phrase “Agony of Doha” in the anime film “ Eureka Seven: Pocket Full Of Rainbows ” refers to a secret military experiment that ended tragically.