Iran-USA, the most tense match of the World Cup. All the reasons for the clash – Corriere.it

Twenty-four years later, for the second time, the United States and Iran will compete at the World Cup. The first was in 1998, in France: an embarrassing performance for the Americans, both because they were defeated by the Islamic Republic and because they scored only one goal in three games (and lost all of them) during the group stage. For Iran it was a historic event. Team Melli — the national team in Persian — made an entire population happy. It was the first return to the World Cup after the Islamic Revolution (Ayatollah Khomeini did not send the team in 1982 and 1986; then failed to qualify) at a time when Iranians just wanted to be happy, explained coach Jalal Talebi, who had spent most of his life in California and was moved by the ceremony in which his team handed out white roses to their opponents. After the victory against the United States, Iranians danced until morning in the streets of Tehran, openly drinking alcohol, and women took off their veils – the same veil that has inflamed protests in the country in the last two months. The Pasdaran let him do it, because they were fans first and foremost, said an Iranian FIFA official.

By the regime, that was presented as a victory over the Great Satan. It didn’t matter that Tehran hadn’t qualified for the round of 16: beating America was like winning the Cup. We will not lose: we do it for the families of the martyrs, swore striker Khodadad Azizi, referring to the 500,000 dead in the US-backed war against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Today much changed. The most important statement was that of Captain Ehsan Hajsafi: In the name of the God of rainbows… we are with you, he said, quoting the phrase of a nine-year-old boy killed in protests within the country and giving his support to those who struggle against the Tehran regime.

In 1998, the Americans arrived in Lyon with bodyguards. There was a fear of violence. Coach Steve Sampson said his boys were too young to remember the hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran after the Islamic revolution of 1979. US midfielder Tab Ramos observed: This match is more important for them than for us. I have not heard anyone say: Let’s beat Iran, let’s do it for Bill Clinton!. Sampson, who avoided politicizing the match as recommended by Fifa, would do things differently today: I would tell the story of the two countries, to motivate my boys.

Twenty-four years later, the only political gesture of the US team was to remove the symbol of the regime from the flag of the Islamic Republic from social media posts in solidarity with Iranian women, only to put it back 24 hours later, when the ayatollahs protested that it had been removed the name of God. Result: Teheran is now asking for the expulsion of the USA from the World Cup and their suspension for 10 games for violating the rules.

This challenge against the backdrop of the collapse of the nuclear deal and Iran’s supply of drones (and potentially missiles) to Russia receives less attention in American newspapers than the NFL and the NBA. For the Iranians it is different: their biggest opportunity so far at the World Cup, yet there is no joy. And how can there be, with 450 dead and 18,000 arrests at home? Pro and anti-regime fans clash in front of the Doha stadium. Many Iranians are disappointed in the players, which before flying to Qatar they posed for photos with President Ebrahim Raisi. like a lover who has betrayed you in the worst possible way, says Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, football enthusiast and director of the NGO Iran Human Rights.

In one game they didn’t sing the anthem, but people expected more. They saw them as leaders and heroes, not just footballers. When former US national coach Jurgen Klinsmann told the BBC that Iranians play dirty because it is part of their culture that there was an unusual moment of unity: both the regime (and coach Carlos Queiros) protested that anti-regime activists. lasted a while. Team Melli, which once united the nation, now mirrors the cracks of a country at war with itself. Yet many are against sanctioning athletes. what the American far right wants – says Fariba Pajooh, a fan who lives in Detroit -. Yes, I’m disappointed, but participating at least gives you an opportunity to be a voice for Iran