Comments will be enabled shortly, but in the meantime, feel free to email us with your thoughts.
“I think I need a statue in Curaçao now,” remarked Eloy Room after successfully thwarting Ecuador’s attempts and securing his nation’s first point in World Cup history. His clean sheet was especially notable following a heavy 7-1 defeat to Germany in their opening match. The Miami FC goalkeeper fell just short of Tim Howard’s record of 16 saves in a World Cup match, set during the USA’s game against Belgium in 2014.
“A little bit annoyed that I don’t have the record from Tim Howard, but I think he was sweating in front of the TV because I was close,” Room added.
“I haven’t heard anything from other coaches and I’m sure they’re busy with preparing their own teams and we never expect them to show any reaction,”
The draw means that Curaçao remains in contention to advance from Group E, should they defeat Côte d’Ivoire in their upcoming match.
In other matches on Saturday, Sweden, fresh off a 5-1 victory over Tunisia, suffered a similar fate against the Netherlands, who also won 5-1, with Sunderland’s Brian Brobbey scoring twice in Houston. Meanwhile, Deniz Undav continued his impressive scoring streak for Germany, netting both goals off the bench, including a late winner against a formidable Côte d’Ivoire in Toronto. Also noteworthy was Tunisia’s disappointing performance under Herve Renard, who saw his team falter against Japan.
Iran’s head coach, Amir Ghalenoei, expressed his dissatisfaction regarding the lack of backing from the other 47 managers at the World Cup, especially amid the turmoil leading up to their crucial match against Belgium.
Iran reached Los Angeles from their base in Tijuana, Mexico, shortly after noon on Saturday, less than 24 hours before their second Group G game. Despite requesting to arrive in LA two days earlier, they were denied, leading the team to voice their concerns to FIFA president Gianni Infantino about feeling like the “But if I had seen another team being treated the way we’ve been treated, I would have [done it]. “I have not seen any reactions from anyone but it seems like the honourable coach of Belgium [Rudi Garcia] has said we are here for football, not politics, and I’m saying exactly the same thing. Our grievances are to do with the way [Fifa] have behaved towards us.” team in the tournament. In contrast, Belgium arrived on Friday to prepare for the match.
“They [Fifa] phoned me and said: ‘Are you ready if we get you a flight at 6pm?’ I welcomed that but we sat and waited and waited,” Ghalenoei commented. “We waited until 7pm, nothing happened. ‘OK, sorry, we weren’t able to do that.’ That’s going to affect us mentally, especially me as a head coach … I know Fifa is trying its best, I thank them for that but it doesn’t mean they have succeeded.”
“Why didn’t they let us come earlier for the first two games as well?”
Ghalenoei described how Iran was left waiting in uncertainty on Friday evening after receiving indications from FIFA that they might be able to travel to LA earlier than originally planned. He stated that the team was prepared to depart from Tijuana, but the evening passed without FIFA granting the necessary approval.
“They’ve allowed us to make our own decisions with regards to planning the travel but unfortunately for the first two games others made these decisions for us.” Ghalenoei recounted. “We waited until 7 PM, and then nothing happened. ‘Sorry, we weren’t able to arrange that.’ This will affect us mentally, especially me as the head coach… I know FIFA is trying their best, and I appreciate that, but that doesn’t mean they have been successful.”
Ghalenoei confirmed that they have now been granted permission to travel to Seattle two days before their final Group G match against Egypt on Friday, but he questioned why they were not allowed to do so for their previous matches in the US. “Why weren’t we permitted to arrive earlier for the first two games as well?” the 62-year-old queried. “They allowed us to manage our travel plans, but unfortunately, decisions regarding the first two games were made by others.”
Tunisia has been eliminated after a crushing defeat to Japan in Group F. In contrast, Curaçao continues to fight on, following a commendable 0-0 draw against Ecuador in Group E. Meanwhile, Germany and the Netherlands seem to be gaining momentum as the tournament progresses. Let’s discuss the World Cup.
