Iran are still searching for their first win at this World Cup, and yet Team Melli manager Amir Ghalenoei already believes his players will go down as national heroes.
That was his verdict after Sunday’s 0-0 draw with favored Belgium, which marked the first time in Iran’s World Cup history they played consecutive matches without defeat.
“This is a great achievement and it will be written about in the history of our football,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter following the Group G clash in Inglewood, Calif. “And the future generations will talk about this, that what we achieved, what a great achievement that is.”
Ghalenoei’s opinion is not based so much on the on-field performance, where Iran failed to find a winner while Belgium played with 10 men for the last half-hour.
Instead, he cited the enormous amount of adversity his players have faced.
The U.S. government’s restrictions on when and how Iran’s national team can travel to participate in the tournament are well known, stemming from the armed conflict the nations have been locked in since late February.
But further issues that don’t get as much press, Ghalenoei insisted, including the country’s decision to shut down its domestic league once war with the U.S. began. Some 17 players on Ghalenoei’s 26-man squad — including Tuesday’s man of the match, goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand — are based in the nation’s domestic top flight.
“I think that we came to the World Cup in the worst condition possible,” Ghalenoei said. “This is something that I wanted all the world to know.”
In other words, while Iran are still aiming to progress from their group, they also deserve to be graded on a bit of a curve.
“This was a very beautiful game,” he said. “You are playing the ranked No. 10 team in the world and they have great players and very great managers. And we played them in our worst condition, but it was a beautiful game. And I think they could have won and we could have won.”
Just as in their opening game against New Zealand, a heavily pro-Iranian crowd was clearly divided on their opinion of the nation’s current government, but unified behind the squad.
Beiranvand was among those expressing gratitude as his side remains alive ahead of their finale against Egypt in Seattle on Friday.
“I’d like to kiss the hands of each and every one of my compatriots,” he said through an interpreter. “I am so glad this happened today. And I am giving my trophy for the man of the match to my people. We came to play for them. We wanted to bring them joy. We wanted to make them happy because they’ve been living in very difficult circumstances. All my very dear compatriots, especially those who supported us today, I’d like to thank them.”
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
