Iran was placed with Kuwait, napoli 24/25 kit Syria and United Arab Emirates in the third round of 2010 World Cup qualifying. After finishing first in the 2007 Asian Cup qualifying round two points ahead of South Korea, Iran placed first in the group stage of the final tournament in Malaysia, eventually losing to their qualifying opponents in a penalty shoot-out in the quarterfinals. Iran started their Germany 2006 appearance with a match against North America’s Mexico in Group D. Being 1-1 at half-time, defensive mistakes led to a Mexican 3-1 win, with goals from Omar Bravo and Sinha. The origin of the group dates back to 1925, when the Boca Juniors fanatic “Toto” Caffarena accompanied the team during a tournament in Europe in 1925. From then on, he was considered the “twelfth player”, hence the name “La doce”.