Iran’s first game at the World Cup ended with a 2-2 draw with New Zealand at the Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles on Monday.
Ramin Rezaeian and Mohammad Mohebi each scored for Iran, catching the team upto to New Zealand that had taken the lead twice earlier.
Despite the thrilling game, the team's coach revealed that all was not going well for the team while in the US. Amir Ghalenoei, the team’s coach, told reporters that he was troubled that they were asked to leave for Mexico’s Tijuana immediately after the match, giving them no time to recover. The team had intended to remain in California overnight to recover.
He did not specify who ordered them to fly back to Mexico.
“We’ve been asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that. They are forcing us to go back early. They are making the situation more and more difficult, more hurdles, but we’re not going to let that stop us from doing our best.
“We don’t know why they’re returning us, to be honest. I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us … We were supposed to arrive two nights before the game, but they didn’t permit it. We were supposed to stay here tonight to recover and return at lunchtime tomorrow,” Ghalenoei told reporters.
He also said that the way they have been treated by FIFA made them the “most oppressed “ team at the tournament. “Our federation isn’t here, our media isn’t here, our management isn’t here,” he added.
Iran’s captain Mehdi Taremi said that “Everything is like a disaster, actually, for us.”
The team did not have the best buildup to the game.
Taremi had said earlier that the war with the US had disrupted their arrival time in the US from their training camp in Mexico. The group had planned to train originally in Arizona, but that changed after Ali Khamenei was killed.
Mohammad Mohebi spoke to the press after the game and said the team had expected to arrive in Los Angeles two days before the game. Instead, they arrived a day before the game and immediately got to training, which left them tired. “These kinds of things, I think, are not a little bit fair,” he said.
The team also had to move their training base to Mexico to avoid immigration concerns.
After arriving in Mexico, 15 of their team’s support staff were denied visas to enter the US.
The team arrived in LA without their Media Officers, Analysts and federation president Mehdi Taj.
Another analyst for the team had to serve as a stand-in as media aide for the team during the meeting with the press.
The team also faced other troubles.
Before the start of the games, a group of Iranian Americans booed the Iranian national anthem. Iranian supporters also went to watch wearing Iran’s pre-revolutionary flag with older symbols.
In a video shared by an Iranian state media reporter, FIFA President Gianni Infantino is seen offering encouragement to the team after the game. “I know what you go through, I understand, but you are stronger than everything…You sent a strong message to the entire world.” He also said this was “just the beginning of the World Cup” and told the team, “You are writing history.”
Iran is scheduled to play against Group G’s Belgium at the same stadium on June 21. The final group stage is set to be against Egypt, which will take place in Seattle on June 27.
