Iran head coach Amir Galenoi said FIFA president Gianni Infantino must “stand up” to the United States after reiterating his belief that his team had been treated “very unfairly” by the hosts.
Iran will reach the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time if results go their way over the next 24 hours, but after a dramatic draw with Egypt in Seattle in which Shoja Khalilzadeh declared the winner offside in stoppage time and Said Ezatola’s header hit the crossbar, they were left disappointed with more than just the result.
Infantino visited Iran’s dressing room after the opening Group G match against New Zealand, telling the team “you are the strongest”, but while Galenoi claims Infantino tried his best to help them, ultimately little has changed since the start of the tournament. Earlier, the head coach called Iran the “most depressed” team at the World Cup.
“I know Mr. Infantino tried his best to minimize the problems as much as possible, but the owner was not very kind to us,” Galenoi said in his post-match press conference. “I urge FIFA not to allow hosts to treat teams and players equally in the future. I hope Mr. Infantino actually stands up to this kind of behavior.”
Iranian captain Mehdi Taremi criticized FIFA’s handling of the situation and cited 11 senior officials who were denied entry into the United States. “From the very beginning, the World Cup was a disaster. I mean, FIFA should solve every problem here, but unfortunately they couldn’t solve it from the beginning. Mr. Infantino came into our dressing room (after) the first game and said: ‘This is just the beginning’. But the group stage ends tomorrow and we have no logistics people here, no visas. How (is this) possible?”
Asked if there was a feeling that the US and FIFA wanted Iran out of the tournament, the Olympiacos striker replied: “We have to fight everything here. I don’t know what people want or know, but from our point of view, yes, I think they would like it.”
The Iranians were due to land in Tijuana, Mexico, where they are based after being forced to change training bases ahead of the tournament, at 3am on Saturday after they were denied permission to remain in Seattle. Galenoi added: “To my players and team I want to say that I am proud of them. What these young people, these players did should be written down in history because we were treated very unfairly by the host country.
Taremi
“If the host country had allowed us to arrive two weeks earlier, we would have been more prepared. These were reasonable, rational demands. We would have been able to recover and be in better shape physically and mentally, but we were denied that justice.
“When you play in a match, physically, scientifically, our bodies are at a low level and when you suddenly go on a flight, it actually delays your recovery and this is the third time they have done this to us, we have to leave here for the airport and return to Tijuana and it will take us about three hours.
“Their behavior towards us was really terrible and we hope the world knows about it. They didn’t allow us to come two weeks early and two days early before every game. It really hurt us. And we also had a war. Despite all these problems, we were able to perform well and the world is proud of the Iranians and our team. I think this is our greatest achievement, despite all the obstacles and obstacles they put in our way.”
Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan played down fears their captain Mohamed Salah could miss Friday’s round of 16 tie with Australia in Dallas after the former Liverpool striker asked for a change as the hour approached. “If a player asks for a substitution, it means he felt something,” Hasan said. “I spoke to Salah and he said he will be fine and it is not a serious 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 will be fine.”