Amir Ghalenoei, the head coach of Iran, has urged FIFA president Gianni Infantino to take a stand against the United States, asserting that his team has faced “you are stronger than everything” treatment from the co-hosts of the World Cup.
As Iran stands on the brink of qualifying for the knockout stage for the first time, they were left frustrated after a dramatic draw against Egypt in Seattle. In that match, Shoja Khalilzadeh had a stoppage-time goal disallowed due to offside, and Saeid Ezatolah’s header struck the crossbar.
After the team’s opener against New Zealand, Infantino visited the dressing room and told the players, “I know Mr Infantino has tried his best to minimise the problems as much as possible but it was the host that wasn’t very good to us,” However, Ghalenoei believes that while Infantino has made efforts to assist, the circumstances have not improved since the tournament began. He previously declared Iran to be the “I urge Fifa to not let the hosts treat teams and players the same way in the future. I hope Mr Infantino will actually stand up to such behaviour.” team at the World Cup.
“Since the beginning, it’s a disaster World Cup. I mean, Fifa, they have to solve every problem here but unfortunately this they couldn’t solve since the beginning. Mr Infantino came to our changing room [after the] first game and he said: ‘It’s just the beginning.’ But [the] group stage finishes tomorrow and we don’t have our logistic people here, they don’t have a visa. How [is that] possible?”
Ghalenoei stated during his post-match conference. “We have to fight against everything here. I don’t know what people want or know, but as we see it by our perspective, yeah, they’d like that, I think.”
Mehdi Taremi, the Iranian captain, also voiced his concerns regarding FIFA’s management of the situation, mentioning the denial of entry to 11 senior officials into the United States. “To my players and the team, I want to say to them I’m proud of them, what these young people, these players have done, it should be written in history because the host country treated us very unfairly. “Had the host country allowed us to arrive two weeks earlier, we would have been more prepared. They were reasonable, rational demands. We would have been able to recover and be in better shape physically and mentally however they deprived us of that justice. “When you play in a match, physically, scientifically, our bodies are at a low and when you suddenly go on a flight, that actually postpones your recovery and this is the third time they are doing this to us, we have to leave from here to the airport and we have to return to Tijuana and it will take us some three hours. “Their behaviour towards us has been really terrible and we hope the world will be aware of that. They didn’t let us come two weeks earlier and two days earlier before every game. This has really hurt us. And we had a war as well. Despite all of these problems, we’ve been able to perform well and the world is proud of Iranians and our team. I think that’s our greatest achievement despite all the obstacles and the hurdles they put in our way.” he expressed. Taremi added, “If a player asks to be substituted, it means he felt something,”
When asked if there was a sentiment that both the US and FIFA wanted Iran out of the tournament, the Olympiakos forward responded, “I talked to Salah and he said he’s going to be OK and it’s not a big injury. We still have time to talk to the medical staff, I think he will be back and when I spoke to Salah he assured me he’s going to be OK.”
Iran’s team is expected to arrive in Tijuana, Mexico, where they have been compelled to relocate their training base, at 3 AM on Saturday after being denied permission to remain in Seattle. Ghalenoei expressed pride in his players, asserting that their efforts “should be written in history” due to the unfair treatment they have endured from the host nation.
“Had the host country allowed us to arrive two weeks earlier, we would have been more prepared,”
he remarked. “They were reasonable, rational demands. We would have been able to recover and be in better shape physically and mentally however they deprived us of that justice.”
He further added, “When you play in a match, physically, scientifically, our bodies are at a low and when you suddenly go on a flight, that actually postpones your recovery and this is the third time they are doing this to us. We have to leave from here to the airport and we have to return to Tijuana and it will take us some three hours.”
“Their behaviour towards us has been really terrible and we hope the world will be aware of that. They didn’t let us come two weeks earlier and two days earlier before every game. This has really hurt us. And we had a war as well. Despite all of these problems, we’ve been able to perform well and the world is proud of Iranians and our team. I think that’s our greatest achievement despite all the obstacles and the hurdles they put in our way.”
Meanwhile, Egypt’s head coach, Hossam Hassan, addressed concerns about Mohamed Salah’s fitness ahead of Friday’s last-32 match against Australia in Dallas. After the former Liverpool winger requested to be substituted near the hour mark, Hassan reassured the media, saying, “If a player asks to be substituted, it means he felt something. I talked to Salah and he said he’s going to be OK and it’s not a big injury. We still have time to talk to the medical staff, I think he will be back and when I spoke to Salah he assured me he’s going to be OK.”
