The $30 milllion toe in the water

Scotland's history at the World Cup has been marred by a series of unfortunate events and encounters with formidable opponents.. One of the most significant bogeymen in Scotland's World Cup history is Carlos Borges, a Uruguayan winger who scored a hat-trick against Scotland in 1954.

Borges' remarkable story includes a heroic act on a steamship in 1963, where he saved a three-year-old boy from drowning. Another notable bogeyman is Danaeifard, an Iranian defender who played against Scotland in 1978.

Danaeifard's team was in a state of turmoil,with the country on the brink of revolution. He and his teammates were subjected to death threats and were forced to navigate a complex web of politics and propaganda.

Why 4,000 unsold units became the prize

Since their first attempt in 1954, there's always been some kind of misfortune lurking in the shadows for Scotland at World Cups. Along the way, there's been a few bogeymen, characters that few in Scotland had heard until they helped detonate the dream.

The first of those bogeymen was Carlos Borges. He was a dynamic little winger and a prolific goalscorer, a graduate of the Penarol academy in Montevideo who was playing senior football at 14.

On June 19, 1954, in Scotland's second game of their first World Cup, Borges scored a hat-trick for Uruguay in a 7-0 win in Basel. To this day, it's Scotland's biggest ever defeat in international football.

An echo of Sydney's 2024 institutional buy-up

Scotland's draw with Iran came in front of a paltry but irate crowd. Scotland were still releing from a hiding by Peru at the 1978 World Cup when they rolled up to Cordoba to play Iran in front of a crowd of just 7,938.

Manager Ally MacLeod didn't overdo the homework, and didn't seem to take any notice that the Iranians had won the Asian Cup in 1968, 1972 and 1976. They weren't bad. They'd lost their World Cup opener 3-0 to the Netherlands but put it down to being in awe of the Dutch.

There was no danger of them being in awe of the Scots. MacLeod's team led 1-0 thorugh an own goal but , on the hour, Danaeifard took it round Archie Gemmill before beating Alan Rough at his near post. It was their first ever World Cup goal.

Who is the unnamed buyer?

Danaeifard, a defender, played for Taj in Tehran. He'd won the first of his 17 caps only the year before. He, and others on that Iran team, have spoken about what their world looked like back then.

Iran was in political turmoil, riots destabilising the land. Security forcces were coming down hard on protestors. The place was on the edge of revolution.

Since the national football team was deemed a symbol of the Shah's regime - the Shah backed them to the hilt and used them as propaganda - Danaeifard and his team-mates were allegedly subjected to death threats by radicals.