Iranâs head coach, Amir Ghalenoei, has said Fifaâs president, Gianni Infantino, must âstand upâ to the US after reiterating his belief that the co-hosts have treated his team âvery unfairlyâ.
Iran will qualify for the World Cup knockout stage for the first time if results go their way in the next 24 hours, but after a dramatic draw against Egypt in Seattle, in which Shoja Khalilzadeh had a stoppage-time winner ruled offside and Saeid Ezatolah headed against the bar, they were left frustrated with more than just the result.
Infantino visited Iranâs dressing room after their Group G opener against New Zealand, telling the squad âyou are stronger than everythingâ, but while Ghalenoei maintains Infantino has tried his utmost to help them, ultimately little has changed since the tournament began. The head coach previously described Iran as the âmost oppressedâ team at the World Cup.
âI know Mr Infantino has tried his best to minimise the problems as much as possible but it was the host that wasnât very good to us,â Ghalenoei said in his post-match press conference. âI 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.â
Iranâs captain, Mehdi Taremi, criticised Fifaâs handling of the situation and referenced the 11 senior officials who were denied entry to the United States. âSince the beginning, itâs a disaster World Cup. I mean, Fifa, they have to solve every problem here but unfortunately this they couldnât solve since the beginning. Mr Infantino came to our changing room [after the] first game and he said: âItâs just the beginning.â But [the] group stage finishes tomorrow and we donât have our logistic people here, they donât have a visa. How [is that] possible?â
Asked whether there was a feeling that the US and Fifa wanted Iran out of the tournament, the Olympiakos forward said: âWe have to fight against everything here. I donât know what people want or know, but as we see it by our perspective, yeah, theyâd like that, I think.â
Iran were due to land in Tijuana, Mexico â where they are based after being forced to switch training base before the tournament â at 3am on Saturday after being denied permission to stay in Seattle. Ghalenoei added: âTo my players and the team, I want to say to them Iâm 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.
âHad 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.
âWhen 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.
âTheir behaviour towards us has been really terrible and we hope the world will be aware of that. They didnât 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, weâve been able to perform well and the world is proud of Iranians and our team. I think thatâs our greatest achievement despite all the obstacles and the hurdles they put in our way.â
Egyptâs head coach, Hossam Hassan, played down fears their captain, Mohamed Salah, could miss Fridayâs last-32 date with Australia in Dallas after the former Liverpool winger requested to be substituted approaching the hour. âIf a player asks to be substituted, it means he felt something,â Hassan said. âI talked to Salah and he said heâs going to be OK and itâs 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 heâs going to be OK.â
Iran will qualify for the World Cup knockout stage for the first time if results go their way in the next 24 hours, but after a dramatic draw against Egypt in Seattle, in which Shoja Khalilzadeh had a stoppage-time winner ruled offside and Saeid Ezatolah headed against the bar, they were left frustrated with more than just the result.
Infantino visited Iranâs dressing room after their Group G opener against New Zealand, telling the squad âyou are stronger than everythingâ, but while Ghalenoei maintains Infantino has tried his utmost to help them, ultimately little has changed since the tournament began. The head coach previously described Iran as the âmost oppressedâ team at the World Cup.
âI know Mr Infantino has tried his best to minimise the problems as much as possible but it was the host that wasnât very good to us,â Ghalenoei said in his post-match press conference. âI 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.â
Iranâs captain, Mehdi Taremi, criticised Fifaâs handling of the situation and referenced the 11 senior officials who were denied entry to the United States. âSince the beginning, itâs a disaster World Cup. I mean, Fifa, they have to solve every problem here but unfortunately this they couldnât solve since the beginning. Mr Infantino came to our changing room [after the] first game and he said: âItâs just the beginning.â But [the] group stage finishes tomorrow and we donât have our logistic people here, they donât have a visa. How [is that] possible?â
Asked whether there was a feeling that the US and Fifa wanted Iran out of the tournament, the Olympiakos forward said: âWe have to fight against everything here. I donât know what people want or know, but as we see it by our perspective, yeah, theyâd like that, I think.â
Iran were due to land in Tijuana, Mexico â where they are based after being forced to switch training base before the tournament â at 3am on Saturday after being denied permission to stay in Seattle. Ghalenoei added: âTo my players and the team, I want to say to them Iâm 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.
âHad 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.
âWhen 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.
âTheir behaviour towards us has been really terrible and we hope the world will be aware of that. They didnât 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, weâve been able to perform well and the world is proud of Iranians and our team. I think thatâs our greatest achievement despite all the obstacles and the hurdles they put in our way.â
Egyptâs head coach, Hossam Hassan, played down fears their captain, Mohamed Salah, could miss Fridayâs last-32 date with Australia in Dallas after the former Liverpool winger requested to be substituted approaching the hour. âIf a player asks to be substituted, it means he felt something,â Hassan said. âI talked to Salah and he said heâs going to be OK and itâs 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 heâs going to be OK.â
