Iran coach after opening draw with New Zealand: 'Our team is the most oppressed in the whole World Cup' originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – They went home neither as winners or losers, but the point is, they went home. (Sort of.) That was not the plan for Iran’s national soccer team following their World Cup opener Monday night, but planning seems to be the most elusive ingredient of their participation in this tournament.
The bus with IR Iran across the side was waiting for the team inside LA Stadium following the 2-2 draw with New Zealand that left both tied atop Group G, ahead of Belgium and Egypt. The players, at one point, had anticipated that vehicle would return them to the hotel where they spent the night before this matchup.
Instead, they were ordered to return to their base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, immediately following the postgame activities: the mixed zone where players complained to reporters, the press conference where head coach Amir Ghalenoei again shared his frustration with the world.
“We don’t know why they’re returning us, to be honest,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter. “It’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us. We were supposed to come in two nights before the game, and they didn’t permit it, and we were supposed to stay here tonight and recover. Our team is, perhaps, the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup.”
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – They went home neither as winners or losers, but the point is, they went home. (Sort of.) That was not the plan for Iran’s national soccer team following their World Cup opener Monday night, but planning seems to be the most elusive ingredient of their participation in this tournament.
The bus with IR Iran across the side was waiting for the team inside LA Stadium following the 2-2 draw with New Zealand that left both tied atop Group G, ahead of Belgium and Egypt. The players, at one point, had anticipated that vehicle would return them to the hotel where they spent the night before this matchup.
Instead, they were ordered to return to their base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, immediately following the postgame activities: the mixed zone where players complained to reporters, the press conference where head coach Amir Ghalenoei again shared his frustration with the world.
“We don’t know why they’re returning us, to be honest,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter. “It’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us. We were supposed to come in two nights before the game, and they didn’t permit it, and we were supposed to stay here tonight and recover. Our team is, perhaps, the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup.”
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