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Iran permitted to arrive in LA just 24 hours before Belgium gameFederation will express its ‘dissatisfaction’ over logistical issuesIran plan to lodge a formal complaint with Fifa regarding the “restrictions imposed by the organisers” on the team at the World Cup, after being told they will only be permitted to arrive in Los Angeles 24 hours before Sunday’s crucial game against Belgium. After Iran’s Group G opener with New Zealand, their head coach, Amir Ghalenoei, argued they are the “most oppressed” team at the tournament. Iran’s captain, Mehdi Taremi, said the logistical issues meant recent weeks had been a “disaster”.The comments stemmed from Iran being informed they had to fly to their team base in Tijuana, Mexico immediately after their draw at Los Angeles Stadium, rather than return the following day after a recovery session.Iran are understood to feel compelled to complain to Fifa after being advised that, as before their 2-2 draw with New Zealand, they will not be allowed to arrive in the US two days before the match. The federation are understood to have presented their case for wanting longer to prepare in the host city.They are particularly unhappy at those constraints on this occasion because it is a midday kick-off local time in LA on Sunday, leaving Iran to travel to Los Angeles International airport on Saturday. Their opening game was a 6pm kick-off local time.In a statement released on Friday, the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) said: “The football federation of Iran believes that such restrictions are inconsistent with the principle of providing equal conditions for all participating teams and may negatively affect teams’ preparation processes.“Consequently, the federation will formally express its dissatisfaction and lodge an official complaint with Fifa through the appropriate channels. Despite these limitations, Iran’s national team will continue its preparation program [sic] and remain fully focused on its upcoming match against Belgium.”

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Ghalenoei claims team told to ‘leave immediately’‘We were supposed to stay here tonight to recover’The Iran captain Mehdi Taremi, midfielder Mohammad Mohebi, and head coach Amir Ghalenoei hit out at Fifa and hinted at resentment toward the US government after being told they needed to leave Los Angeles immediately after Monday night’s 2-2 draw against New Zealand in the World Cup.“Everything is like disaster, actually, for us,” said Taremi, who added that Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, visited the team in the dressing room and they expressed their concerns to him directly.Ghalenoei said the way they have been treated by Fifa makes them “the most oppressed” team at the tournament.“After the game today they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately,’” Ghalenoi said. “Whereas today it’s very important for us to have recovery.“We’ve been asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana and we are really troubled by that. They are forcing us to go back early. They are making the situation more and more difficult, more hurdles, but we’re not going to let that stop us from doing our best.“We don’t know why they’re returning us, to be honest. I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us … We were supposed to arrive two nights before the game but they didn’t permit [it]. We were supposed to stay here tonight to recover and return tomorrow lunchtime.“I think our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup. Our federation isn’t here, our media isn’t here, our management isn’t here.”Infantino went into the Iran dressing room after the game and a video of his message to the squad was shared online, in which Infantino and Ghalenoei exchanged words, via a member of staff translating.“You showed to your families, friends, to your people, to the world, that you’re in the World Cup, that you perform and you have two more games to go,” Infantino said. “In these two games, you will make again everyone in the world proud of what you do. Thank you for being here.“It is also a big, big emotion. I know what you go through, I understand, but you are stronger than everything. You send a strong message to the entire world. Like tonight you united the whole stadium here, you united the whole stadium behind you, behind Team Melli. You are sending such a strong message to the world.“Let me say one more thing: this is just the beginning of the World Cup. You are writing history, the whole world is watching you. Continue to play with your heart, for your people, your families, for your fans and for everyone in the world that is falling in love with Team Melli. You are stronger than everything.”Taremi criticised a logistical situation that has seen the team forced to abandon their planned training base in Tucson, Arizona weeks before the tournament, instead training across the border in Tijuana, Mexico and flying in to the US shortly before games.The team moved its training base to avoid immigration concerns that turned out to be well founded – after arriving in Mexico, 15 of the team’s support staff were denied visas to enter the US, where all of Iran’s group stage games are taking place. That number was later reduced to 11 after some visas were approved.The team still arrived in Los Angeles minus both of their media officers, some analysts, and federation president, Mehdi Taj. Another analyst for the team served as a stand-in media aide for Taremi and Mohebi’s appearance, which a Fifa official repeatedly attempted to stop as both players continued answering questions.“I think it’s not good for the football,” Taremi said. “In [the] World Cup, you have to prepare good for the next game, which is a lot of stress for the players and the staff and everyone. But we don’t have that support, and I think Fifa have to help us more than this. Let’s see what’s going to happen in the future.”Iran faced delays in their travel from Tijuana to Los Angeles, a short trip that Taremi said took five hours. He did not specify what caused the delays, but it was understood that the immigration process was the main cause.Taremi and Mohebi said being forced to leave immediately afterward would negatively affect the players’ performance at the tournament.“It’s supposed to be: tomorrow morning recovery, then we fly to Tijuana, then we return to LA again, but right now we have to go back,” Taremi said.Mohebi added: “Yesterday we came, started the trip in the morning, and we arrive [in the] afternoon, and we directly go to train, and we get tired, you know? I think [it wa] supposed to be, we come here two days before the game. This kind of deal, I think, is not fair … we’re going to get fatigued – hamstring, lower back, glutes …”By contrast, Ghalenoei praised the warmth of co-hosts Mexico and many Mexicans were in attendance supporting Iran at the Los Angeles Stadium.“The Mexican people, the Mexican government, especially the people in Tijuana, made us feel at home,” he said.

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What, really, were the emotions flowing through the veins of Iran’s players as they took to the pitch in Los Angeles? A few hours earlier Donald Trump, in France before the G7 summit, said a peace deal had been signed. A penny for the thoughts, too, of the Fifa president up in the VIP seats, Gianni Infantino, who in effect admitted he was powerless to prevent Iran from the chaos that has overshadowed their participation.Finally, then, for 101 minutes against New Zealand at least, Iran’s players were able to focus on the football, just as their head coach, Amir Ghalenoei, vowed they would. Goals from Mohammad Mohebbi and Ramin Rezaeian cancelled out a smart Eli Just double. The cue of a partisan crowd provided the kind of joy Iran captain Mehdi Taremi conceded had been missing in recent months.With the Hollywood hills visible from parts of this spectacular stadium, covered by a teardrop-shaped canopy underneath which there is a wraparound LED chandelier, Iran did not seem bogged down by political baggage. After all, this was arguably the most politically supercharged sporting event in history, given the hurdles Iran overcame just to take to the field in Los Angeles – this was the first of three Group G games in the USA, the country with which Iran has been at war with since February. Eleven Iran officials were refused entry to the US, prompting them to relocate their team base from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico. Their training programme was delayed.Then there is the volatility of Iranian politics and the associated infighting. There are hundreds of thousands of Iranian-Americans based in the area of town tagged “Tehrangeles”, home to the biggest population of Iranians outside of Iran, many of whom fled religious and political persecution. But there is division among Iranians, some of whom protested outside the team hotel and outside the stadium here with clear messages against the Islamic Republic; one activist said the regime has turned athletes into mouthpieces, others referred to Iran’s government as terrorists.The backdrop made for a few different sights on the open-top bus tour of the city in the hours before kick-off. Protestors carried the pre-revolutionary flag of Iran, sold merchandise with the controversial sun and lion emblem, portraits of the former shah of Persia. On the day of the game a Fifa ban on the flags was upheld by a judge after a lawsuit was filed to LA’s superior court. While Fifa’s code of conduct prohibits materials of “political, offensive and/or discriminatory nature”, several carried the flags into the ground unchallenged; one couple were asked to simply remove the sticks attached to them. Iran’s sports minister, Ahmad Donyamali, had been quoted as saying their players would abandon the match if they heard political slogans in the ground.But inside this spectacular stadium, there was little in the way of opposition. From the moment Taremi exchanged pennants with Chris Wood, the support for Iran was overwhelmingly positive. Unlike in their opening game in Qatar four years ago, Iran sang the national anthem, which in itself is a divisive issue. Iran, all in white against the All Whites, made a fast start but trailed on seven minutes when Just juggled the ball in the box and wellied it past Alireza Beiranvand. It was a fine move that stemmed from Wood controlling on his chest a long kick downfield by the Millwall goalkeeper Max Crocombe. Wood and Just then combined in the box, the latter taking the ball away from Ali Nemati with his left boot and then smacking in with the laces of his right.A loose contest meant plenty of openings. Shahriar Moghanloo made, surely, a goal-saving block, taking the ball off the toes of Wood after the Nottingham Forest striker wound up a shot and Taremi cracked an effort against the post after soaring to the edge of the 18-yard box from inside his own half. Iran levelled when Rezaeian poked in, the 36-year-old rewarded for burning towards goal after sending a delightful pass infield with the outside of his right foot. Saman Ghoddos’s first-time pass into Moghanloo was sumptuous and while Moghanloo couldn’t convert, Rezaeian ghosted past Michael Boxall to send his shot past Crocombe.It always felt unlikely the goals would stop there and Just scored his and his country’s second 10 minutes into the second half. He again dovetailed with Wood and while Wood screamed for the Motherwell striker to square, he coolly dinked the ball over Beiranvand. New Zealand again failed to hold on to their lead, Mohebbi heading in via a post nine minutes later after finding himself unmarked between centre-backs Boxall and Finn Surman. Mohebbi celebrated by putting his hands out as if to say: Well, how about that, then? That feeling was shared at the final whistle.

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There have now been five matches without defeat for Asian sides at this World Cup after the draw between Saudi Arabia and Uruguay. Jonathan Wilson had already pondered even before the game in Miami whether these are early signs that the continent is a rising force in football, with Iran out to add to the evidence when they face New Zealand.double quotation markAFC teams have in the past perhaps been guilty of lacking belief against Uefa sides, but no longer. Japan celebrated the equaliser as any side that has snatched a draw should, but the disappointment when they fell behind was clear. First and second in this group play second and first in the Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti group. It’s an indication of how far both Morocco and Japan have come that it’s not at all clear that it would be easier to face them than Brazil or the Netherlands.

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Ghalenoi hopes disruption does not impact his teamThe Iran striker Mehdi Taremi has said the controversy and disruption surrounding their involvement at the World Cup undermines Fifa’s message of peace and conceded he felt the tension before arriving in Los Angeles on the eve of their opener, hours before a peace deal was announced. For the first time since the competition’s inception, a host nation has received a country with which it is at war.On Sunday Iran flew to LA from Tijuana, Mexico, where they were relocated amid an ongoing row over visas, but are expected to face opposition from Iranians, many of whom believe the national team do not represent the country. Iran has been beset by problems in the buildup to the tournament, with several officials denied entry to the US.“This kind of tension undermines that joy and it undermines the message of Fifa and our people, which is about football and bringing about peace,” said the Olympiakos forward Taremi. “I think this World Cup could have provided a better atmosphere than it has and I hope in the future it will be better for all fans, whoever they are supporting.“It’s not just Iran that has been impacted, others have been impacted, including referees [the Somali official Omar Artan was denied entry]. I have felt the tension from the first moment we arrived at this World Cup. Of course, we don’t have the same beautiful experience we usually talk about – peace and joy. I know several countries had visa problems and changing of training camps. The tension exists – it did before the World Cup even started. The feeling, the sensation people always have looking forward to a World Cup, I think this time they hadn’t had the same feeling.”Taremi and his teammates touched down in LA after their plane’s second attempt at landing. On arrival at their team hotel in Manhattan Beach, they were greeted by some Iranian protestors, most of whom are part of the 375,000-strong Iranian population in California, the largest outside of Iran, as well as a heavy police and security presence, including drones, mobile surveillance and sniffer dogs. A western area of LA centred on Westwood is nicknamed “Tehrangeles” owing to the huge Iranian diaspora. “Iran will be playing as locals in Los Angeles, in spite of it all,” said Iran’s head coach, Amir Ghalenoi.About 35,000 Iran supporters are expected for their Group G opener against New Zealand and several are expected to protest against the team before the game. “We are here to play football and we are here to represent the respectful people of Iran, be it the Iranians inside of Iran or the diaspora,” said Ghalenoi. “We are only thinking about our country. We’re not political people and the slogan of Fifa is this, that football is separate from politics. We respect each and every one of the Iranians.”Ghalenoi conceded the convoluted travel has impacted their preparations. “We were supposed to start training earlier, but, look, we arrived late and we didn’t have enough time to adjust, of course that will affect us,” he said. “I know my players are determined to do their utmost. I hope the World Cup will go well despite the travel problems we’ve had … I hope it will not affect the quality of our play.”Iran reportedly passed through customs without issue but arrived about 20 minutes late for their pre-match press conference at So-Fi Stadium. “It wasn’t our fault,” Taremi said. “The players of the national team play for every Iranian … People have different opinions but we are here as footballers to unite people and we will try to bring joy to all Iranians, irrespective of where they live. Everyone can have their own opinion. We are not here to get involved in politics, we are here to play football.”Ghalenoi was also asked about the absence of Sardar Azmoun amid reports of a perceived act of disloyalty to the government. Azmoun, who plays in the United Arab Emirates, is reported to have angered his government by posting a photo of himself with the UAE ruler Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. Facilities in the UAE have been attacked by Iran during the conflict. “Serdar Azmoun is an excellent player and has done a lot for the national team, but he is not with us and we wish he was, but this is football, sorry,” Ghalenoi said.An issue facing Fifa is the possibility of supporters bringing flags displaying the country’s historical flag, featuring a lion and a sun, from before the Islamic revolution. The flag is banned from stadiums at the World Cup. A Fifa official shut down a question relating to the flag, saying it was not relevant to the game.