LOS ANGELES – Obviously it couldn’t be straightforward – what else has been? When you have battled for visas, shaken off the slings and arrows of a US President and been forced to move countries to train, twice falling behind to New Zealand is small fry. Iran faced so much to get here. They scored two equalisers and each one felt like a mini-redemption.
But more on that a little later. If you’ll allow me, this one doesn’t start with football. It is two o’clock in Inglewood and Farhad, his wife and two children are walking around SoFi Stadium because the doors aren’t actually open for them to get inside. They live in California, and this World Cup draw made it possible for them to watch Iran play for the first time. That is why they are four hours early. They have facepaint on. They are wearing Iran shirts.
“We are here because we want the team to be a positive distraction from bad news,” Farhad says. “We want this tournament and the national team to be positive for all Iranians. To come together, one more time.”
Farhad and his family were attending their first ever national team match (Photo: The i Paper) Hussein and his son and friends were in a mood of celebratory pride (Photo: The i Paper)That is the majority view of the people I speak to: let’s make this day count. Hussein is here with his son and friends, Reza with his group of mates. Some Iranian supporters didn’t wish to be photographed or give interviews, a lingering fear or mistrust of being captured on screen; entirely fair enough. But most were in celebration mode and happy to say so.
The pocket of intense opposition gathered on the corner of Pincay and South Prairie, within view of the stadium’s top tier through its vast pillars. A few hundred Iranian flags were still being waved, but with a different purpose.
Protesters believe that even playing for the national team is a tacit endorsement of the military dictatorship. Inside the stadium, a few of them tell me that they are cheering on New Zealand because the Iranian team supports the regime. It’s a multi-layered argument on a subject that I would never pretend to be an expert on. But team captain Mehdi Taremi says that footballers simply want to carry out their profession, in the same position as so many other Iranians: “We only think about our country. We are not political people.”
Iranian-American journalist Samson Tamijani says: “I think that fans that have stayed true to themselves and their culture understand that the majority of the players are just like them, as with most national teams in the world.”
Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei claimed his side were ‘the most oppressed team in the World Cup’ (Photo: Getty) Iran twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw with New Zealand on Monday (Photo: Getty)I lean towards that view: nobody deserves to become an unwitting actor for a regime. Sardar Azmoun, a star player, was accused of “disloyalty to the government” and has not been picked. Coach Amir Ghalenoei says that he would like Azmoun to be with him. Football is never just football.
Perhaps one supporter, wandering around the third tier of SoFi two hours before kick-off, has it right. His face is painted in the colours of the flag. His T-shirt is a large football; the top half is the US flag and the bottom half the Iranian flag.
“My home,” it says over the top half of the football. “My roots,” it says over the other. This conflict has put people in an unpleasant, uncomfortable position. Perhaps this should just be a day for pride, unity and distraction. And many thousands of them are here to partake.
That the Iran team is in SoFi at all is progress. Donald Trump said that it was inappropriate for them to compete “for their own life and safety”. Staff members had visas rejected, as did many members of the media corps. The official supporters’ tickets were reportedly cancelled.
The Iran squad were forced to change their tournament camp from Arizona to Mexico and fly in and out for matches. After full-time in SoFi, Ghalenoei told the media that his team were being forced to leave that evening rather than recovering as planned. He talked of being “the most oppressed team in the tournament”.
Many supporters were dressed head-to-toe in their nation’s colours (Photo: Getty) Los Angeles is home to the biggest Iranian community outside of Iran (Photo: Getty)“I have felt tension as soon as I arrived,” Taremi said on the eve of the game. “I don’t have the same beautiful experience as before. This World Cup could have provided a better atmosphere than it has but I hope in the future it will be better.”
But then, as Tamijani says, isn’t that always the way?
“We know nothing is ever cut and dry when it comes to Iran,” he says. “Nothing is easy. That is the grind that comes with being Iranian: many of us feel that nothing can ever be simple, modern or flawlessly dignified.”
As journalist Erfan Hoseiny points out, that complication extends to football’s own importance. He says that the players are now capable of compartmentalising and focusing on football, but it’s impossible for fans and media not to allow the creep of geopolitics.
And when that journey takes you literally into enemy territory, at least in the context of the current conflict, how could it not feel messy? This was arguably the most political match in the history of the World Cup. The notion that you could separate sport from the noise is patently ridiculous.
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But football can be a distraction. It can be a light relief. It can provide an arena where a diaspora come together, wear shirts, chant the name of their country and be intensely proud of a team, not a regime. Football can be everything for a day, even if it’s comparatively nothing yesterday and tomorrow.
“Nobody asked any football-related questions,” Taremi said with a smile before Iran played New Zealand. He knew why; few understand so more than him. And they likely won’t ask any for the rest of the tournament. That is the lot of this team and the complexities of their professional lives.
But on Monday in Los Angeles, there were football answers. Ghalenoei’s team were weak in parts, a little understandably undercooked. They also demonstrated fight, resilience and passion. How could anything else be true, in the circumstances?
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