How Ben Williams single handedly took revenge on Iran for the heartache of 1997 & his calamitous decision robbed fans of a potential Iran vs Australia dream final in the AFC Cup

The history of the rivalry between Iran & Australia in football is exciting & dramatic to say the least

In 1972 during their ultimately successful qualification quest for 1974 World Cup, the Socceroos beat Iran 3-0 in Sydney before narrowly escaping after going down 2-0 in the return leg in Tehran.

During the 1978 world Cup qualifiers, Iran took revenge & qualified for the World Cup & in the process beat Australia 1-0 in both qualifying games.

And then of course there was the historic night of Nov 29th 1997 at the MCG , and the unbelievable elimination of the gallant but perhaps naive Socceroos sides at the hand of a highly talented but unpredictable Iran which ultimately qualified Iran for France 1998 at the expense of Australia.

Since then and following Australia's admission to the AFC, both passionate Socceroos & Team Meli fans have been hoping for a rematch between the two teams at World Cup qualifiers or Asian Cup.

This year, both Iran & Australia were amongst favourites to win the AFC 2015...and when Australia lost to S Korea, a potential Australia vs Iran excited fans.

But tonight, Aussie referee BEN WILLIAMS put an end to that dream by almost single handedly ending Iran's participation in the tournament prematurely. Williams made a calamitous red card error which reduced Iran to 10 men in the QF match between Iran & Iraq midway through the fist half.

Iran, which were comfortably dominant & leading 1-0 at that stage, fought with 10 men for nearly 90 minutes & fell behind 2-1 & 3-2 in extra time & came back to end the match 3-3 before finally losing 6-7 in the penalty shoot out to a resolute Iraq side which rode their luck at the back of Ben Williams' error.

FoxtSports commentators Mark Bosnic, John Aliosi & Mark Rudden were stunned at Ben Williams' error & unanimous in criticism of his amateurish error.

So THANK YOU BEN WILLIAMS! but Socceroos fans never wanted you to take the matters into your own hands & take revenge for the 1997 heartache in such unsavoury & embarrassing manner! Surely the cream of football refereeing in Australia is of a much higher calibre than what you displayed tonight!

And as for the passionate Iranian Team Meli fans, they hope your latest serious error of judgement on the field will see the end of your career as a FIFA international referee. It may be harsh but you deserve no less a punishment considering your error earlier in the tournament in the S Arabia vs Kazakistan match & many questionable decisions in the A League.