Athletes often attempt to hide their emotions, especially in their dealings with the press. Put on a brave face and all. Ramin Rezaeian, a defender for the Iranian World Cup soccer team, was having none of that on Friday night in Seattle.
Minutes after Iran played to a thrilling, though for Rezaeian and his teammates heartbreaking, 1-1 draw against Egypt, Rezaeian didn’t bother masking his pain. While on the verge of tears while meeting with reporters at Seattle Stadium, Rezaeian said he couldn’t believe that a game-winning goal scored by Iran’s Shoja Khalilzadeh, in the third minute of stoppage time, was called offside after an incredibly nitpicky technological review.
An Iran victory would have put Team Melli into the World Cup knockout stage for the first time in Iran’s history. Adding to Rezaeian’s agony, right before the final whistle another potential clincher, a header from Khalilzadeh, hit the crossbar. “I can’t see any luck in my team,” said a distraught Rezaeian.
One could only imagine how Rezaeian and his teammates felt some 24 hours later, when Iran’s fortunes, incredibly, got even worse.
Because despite the tie with Egypt, who plays Australia in the Round of 32 on July 3 in Dallas, Iran still had a chance to advance. One of three outcomes had to unfold on Saturday. Ghana had to beat Croatia, Uzbekistan had to win or draw against DR Congo, or Austria and Algeria had to avoid a draw.
Just one of three. But Croatia bested Ghana, 2-1. Then DR Congo beat Uzbekistan, 3-1.
So Iran’s fate came down to the Austria-Algeria tilt in Kansas City. Someone, anyone, just had to win this game. The ending was dizzying. With the game tied 2-2 in stoppage time, Algerian players kicked the ball around to each other, running out the clock, the result seemingly a foregone conclusion.
Both teams would advance with the tie, and Algeria had little incentive to win the game and advance to play Spain, rather than Switzerland, in the knockout stage. Game over.
Until, out of nowhere, Algeria attacked. Off a slick feed from Houssem Aouar, Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez scored his second goal of the game to give Algeria a 3-2 lead. Iran was staying at the World Cup.
For a few seconds, it turns out. Because Austria was not done. Off a long, seemingly desperate cross, Michael Gregoritsch headed the ball to Sasa Kalajdzic, who in turn headed the pass into the netto equalize. Game actually over. Austria survived, and faces Spain in Los Angeles on July 2. Algeria gets Switzerland the same day, in Vancouver. Iran goes home.
According to ESPN, never before in World Cup history had stoppage time featured both go-ahead and game-tying goals.
Iran’s World Cup stay was fraught and controversial. The country that hosted its games, the United States, continued to attack Iran during the World Cup, bringing unprecedented geopolitical tension into the sporting realm. Before the start of the war in late February, Iran had planned to set up a base camp in Tucson, Ariz. for the World Cup.
Instead, Iran wound up in Tijuana, Mexico, and was only allowed to fly into the U.S. for short windows. Some members of Iran’s traveling delegation were denied U.S. visas.
During the tournament, Iranian players and coaches objected to the arrangements, claiming that they disrupted their training and recovery, creating an uneven playing field. “It’s a disaster World Cup,” Iran forward Mehdi Taremi said on Friday.
The team’s coach, Amir Ghalenoei, called the U.S. government’s treatment of his team “really terrible.” U.S. officials argued that they did plenty to accommodate a soccer team representing a wartime enemy and country that in recent months attacked protesters with deadly force.
Politics and sports will always intertwine. But taking the tensions out of the equation, even for a brief moment: how can you not feel sympathy for the Iranian soccer players, as athletes and humans, who were so tantalizingly close to fulfilling lifelong dreams and uplifting the people of Iran?
After the team’s exit was official, the Iran soccer media department sent out a note to journalists who had covered the team, thanking Tijuana for its hospitality. “The memories we created here, the friendships we built, and the kindness we received will remain forever in the hearts of every member of the Iran National Football Team,” the statement read. “We hope our paths will cross again.”
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