IBNA - Former Iranian defender Ali Asghar Ostad Asadi has said he is collecting his memories of Iran’s accession to the 1998 World Cup by drawing with Australia.

Ostad Asadi praised Iran’s rise to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil by smashing South Korea, and said the accession took me to the France 1998 cup when he was Iran’s defender.

“Years have passed since Iran’s rise to the world cup in 1998 but still no books have been written about the greatness of the event,” he said. “All the players and I have great memories of our endeavor to make way to the cup which should be recorded in books for future generations to learn about the hardships we went through.”

In 1997 Iran succeeded in rising to the world cup after 20 years. “When we entered our residence in Melbourne, Australians teased us saying that we should have never come to their country and stayed in Iran to lose 3 nil. I never forget those moments.”

He further stated that he has been collecting his memories about Iran-Australia game in 1997 and will probably have it released before the 2014 games in Brazil.

Ali Akbar Ostad-Asadi or Ostadasadli (born 17 September 1965 in Tabriz) is a retired Iranian football player. He played for a few clubs, most notably Zob Ahan FC and in the final years of his career Mashin Sazi of Tabriz. He made 33 appearances for the Iran national football team and was a participant at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.