World Cup, Iran: “Only 16 hours in the USA for the match against Belgium. Training interrupted”

Perhaps on June 26th in Seattle against Egypt, the third match of the group, the Iranians could really have peace and prepare as they would like, but for the second match against Belgium they didn’t go even close to what they hoped: the preparation for the match against Lukaku and De Bruyne has become an international case, yet another in their World Cup that has become an obstacle course. It grew even more after yet another complaint from coach Ghalenoei in the previous conference. Having landed in Los Angeles from Tijuana at lunchtime, the Tehran national team went through the customs process and then trained in the Galaxy sports center in a certain hurry. Then in the Californian afternoon the coach was already in the belly of the SoFi Stadium and raised his voice even more than usual: “We didn’t present a formal complaint to FIFA, but simply expressed our discomfort – said Ghalenoei -. The first time we were able to stay on American soil for a day, this time in fact 16 hours: think about it, we had to leave training halfway through, in normal conditions we would have spent double the time”. Compared to the match against New Zealand, this one is played six hours earlier, at 12pm in Los Angeles, and this tightens the time even more. “We thank President Infantino who wants to minimize our inconveniences, but no one is succeeding: this makes everything more difficult – continued the coach –. People understand that all this is unethical and profoundly unfair, it doesn’t help maintain fair competition.” From there, the story of an episode that had just happened: “Yesterday, at lunchtime in Tijuana, the authorities suddenly told us: do you want to leave in the evening? We waited for hours and then nothing… A case like this affects everyone psychologically, even me who should only think about the best squad with which to face a great team like Belgium”.

martyrs

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These are intense days in Tehran, from politics to religion. From rediscovered peace to the most cherished and founding moment for Shiite Islam: the month of Muharram has just begun, a period of mourning and reflection that culminates with Ashura (expected around June 25), the commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, grandson of Muhammad. In the middle, there is also football, with the torments of the national team which are discussed throughout the world and not just at home. In this regard, Ghalenoei clearly took issue with the lack of solidarity from his fellow coaches, raising the level of the accusations compared to usual: “There was no reaction from anyone… The Belgium coach says he doesn’t want to mix politics and football and I have no news that other selectors have expressed their opinion. Faced with such a great injustice, in their place I would have said something… We continually face challenges off the field, but we play for our martyrs, for our oppressed country, and I hope the world notices it: I would like this type of behavior to never happen again in a sporting competition.” Seen from Tehran, the good news would be an unexpected opening of the American shirts in view of the third match in Seattle: “They told us that for that match we will be able to arrive in the city two days earlier, as Belgium was able to do here, which has been here since yesterday at noon: we would have liked to prepare as well as them and, instead, it wasn’t possible. I’m just wondering why it will be possible for the match against Egypt and it wasn’t for the previous two”.