US travel restrictions on the Iranian national team are being eased. Iranian national coach Amir Ghalenoei said this on Saturday at a press conference the day before Iran’s match against Belgium. His team will stay in Mexico during this World Cup, but will play all group matches in the United States.
Until now, the American authorities had only allowed the Iranian team to enter the US a day before the match and had to leave the country a few hours after the final whistle. Iran played against New Zealand in Los Angeles last Tuesday and will also play against Belgium on Sunday.
According to Ghalenoei, the way the Iranians have been treated so far has had a negative impact on their performance on the field, but he has been promised that around the last group match against Egypt in Seattle, “they can do what we want, that we can be ourselves and that we can arrive earlier.” He did not say who promised him this.
The Iranian Football Association announced on Friday that it would file a complaint with FIFA about the travel restrictions. The national coach remains angry about how everything has gone so far: “What matters to me, my problem is: why didn’t they let us come earlier for the first two games?”
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