Persepolis-Esteghlal: The Day of the Sorkhabi Derby

You can tell when it’s that day.

Tehran, capital of Iran, is not it’s usual. The place is buzzing, and the streets are packed; all sorts of vehicles fill up the roads and men in red or blue football shirts the pavements.

Cars, motorbikes, push-bikes, pedestrians, taxis, buses, coaches; they’re all heading one way—to the Azadi Stadium, home of Iranian football.

The gates of the Azadi Sports Complex become packed with security, as the sea of red and blue all head one way.

The wrestling stadium, the athletics track, the swimming centre, the velodrome; they host some of the finest Iranian athletes, yet all are empty. On this day, there is only one place in the complex, and that’s the big thing in the centre.

Red fans and blue fans all go the same way and head for the Azadi Stadium, where 100,000 lucky people will witness one of the greatest events in the Iranian sports calendar.

The build-up in the papers, on the Internet, in the news, and on Channel 3 is immense. The day has finally arrived, for today is the day of the Sorkhabi derby, where the two greats in Iranian football, Persepolis and Esteghlal, once again do battle.

It has been close all season and now comes the day when one can take the lead in the Iran Pro League, and escape from their bitter rival. Both sides know they must win; this game is make or break for IPL title hopes, and qualification for the Asian Champions League.

Persepolis fans will be hoping their captain and star player Karim Bagheri can relive the glory days and deliver the goods, as well as their other star player, national hero Ali Karimi, who they hope won’t get snatched again by a major European club.

For Esteghlal, the fans are just praying that Brazilian midfielder Fábio Januário will perform as he usually does, and combine with star striker Farhad Majidi to give Taj (Esteghlal’s nickname and former name) a so desperately needed win.

Once again, there is always the strong threat of the ever so passionate fans giving death threats to officials, who they’re convinced are match-fixing in either side’s favour. This time, the renowned English referee Graham Poll and his team have come to officiate.

Widely accepted as Asia’s most important derby, and one of the top ten most important in world football according to World Soccer magazine in 2008; the 100,000 spectators inside the stadium are usually accompanied by over 90,000,000 viewers on TV, including an estimated 65% of Iran’s entire 75,000,000 population.

History of the Sorkhabi Derby

The heated rivalry between the two sides started back in April 1968, where the game finished as a goalless draw, something that is very uncommon between the two sides nowadays.

At the time, Esteghlal were known as Taj FC, and had a strong rivalry with a club called Shahin FC. Shahin had strong associations with Persepolis, and when Shahin had to cease operations due to poor relations with the IFF (Iran Football Federation), the rivalry transferred to Persepolis and Taj, who later became known as Esteghlal.

Over time, the rivalries between Persepolis and Esteghlal became more heated, as fans of both sides attained collective identities.

By the mid-70’s, Persepolis was seen as a working class club, whereas Esteghlal were viewed as a club close to ruling the establishment and supported by the upper class of Iranian society. Persepolis fans outnumbered Esteghlal fans by large numbers and that is still the case today.

As the rivalry grew in stature, the nature of the matches became more sensitive, and it is not uncommon for fan violence to occur. In minor cases, seats are ripped out and rubbish thrown at the field. But in more serious incidents, there are physical fights between opposing players and fans, storming of the pitch by fans, and in most cases the destruction of public property.

Two notable matches in Sorkhabi derby history are:

Esteghlal 3-0 Persepolis (January 11, 1995)

This was the 38^thSorkhabi derby and Persepolis were leading 2-0 up until the last 10 minutes of the match. Esteghlal then scored twice in quick succession, including one which was a very dubious penalty.

Angered by what appeared to be clear biased towards Esteghlal from the referee, Persepolis fans stormed the field, and many fights broke out on the pitch between players and fans.

After the game, Esteghlal were given an automatic 3-0 victory and Persepolis severely punished for their fans behaviour. But most importantly, it was decided that it wouldn’t be safe for Iranian referees to officiate in this derby, so to reduce fans’ fears of bias, foreign referees would be invited to officiate the match.

Persepolis 2-2 Esteghlal (December 29, 2000)

This was one of the most heated and exciting derbies in Sorkhabi history. The game was extremely sensitive as defender Mehdi Hasheminasab had left Persepolis in the off-season for Esteghlal.

Esteghlal thought they won this match after going 2-1 up on 86 minutes through Hasheminasab, but a spectacular strike from star player Ali Karimi in the 89th minute saved Persepolis, much to the delight of the Pirouzi fans.

Throughout the game, Esteghlal goalkeeper Parviz Broumand and Persepolis striker Payan Rafat were constantly insulting each other. This eventually led to Broumand punching Rafat in the face and giving him a black eye. A massive fight then broke out between the players.   

After the match, hooligans from both sides went on a rampage throughout Tehran. 250 buses were completely destroyed, along with countless shops. Three players and 60 fans from each side were arrested for their behaviour.

Statistics

As of today, there have been 65 first-class competitive meetings between Esteghlal and Persepolis.

Esteghlal have the upper hand over their opponents, having won 20 of the two sides’ encounters, compared to Persepolis’ 15.

The biggest winning margin in a Sorkhabi derby was in the 12^thderby, when Persepolis thrashed Esteghlal 6-0.

Safar Iranpak, an Iranian footballing legend back in the 70’s, has scored the most derby goals, with seven to his name. He is followed by his fellow teammate from the 70’s Hossein Kalani, who scored six. Several players are currently on five goals.

The next Sorkhabi derby is on 17^th February 2009, a day that football fans all over Iran and Asia will look forward to.

And perhaps, 17^th February 2009 could well be a day that will long live in the memories of all connected with Iranian football, as it seems like it could once again be crucial in deciding who will become the Iran Pro League Champions.

source: www.wikipedia.org