Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said Saturday he has been told US travel restrictions on his World Cup team will finally be eased for their third group game, but blasted the treatment they have received so far for damaging their on-field performance.
The Iranian squad arrived at the World Cup with their country still at war with co-hosts the United States, and have been based in Mexico while playing all their games in the US. That has required frequent cross-border travel, and US authorities have only permitted the team to remain in the country for a few hours after each game, with restrictions frequently shifting last-minute.
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After playing Belgium in Los Angeles on Sunday, Iran’s final group game will take place in Seattle next Friday against Egypt. Ghalenoei on Saturday said he had been told his team will have more flexibility for their final match, before quickly adding that it would have been “justice” for his team to have the same treatment for its first two games.
“They said in Seattle, you can do what you want, you can act the way you want to, and you can come earlier,” he told a press conference, without specifying who exactly the information had come from. “But what I want, my problem is, why didn’t they let us come earlier for the first two games as well? I just know for the last game, yes, they’ve allowed us to decide, to make our own decisions with regards to planning the travel.”
“But unfortunately, for the first two games, others made these travel arrangements for us, and the timing for us.” Last week Iran drew 2-2 with New Zealand, the tournament’s lowest-ranked team, with sloppy defending twice allowing the All Whites to go ahead before Team Melli equalized.
“There were errors, individual ones, and also with regards to this defense we had, and I think we were playing… we were doing too many passes,” said Ghalenoei. “And I think, because we have been flying too much, commuting, as a result of this long commute, we’ve been tired.”
The manager said restrictions on his team had been even more onerous for Sunday’s upcoming game against Belgium, Group G’s highest-ranked team. Ghalenoei said his team had arrived in the US on Saturday less than 24 hours before kickoff, despite being briefly told by FIFA on Friday early afternoon that they may be able to travel that day.
“We waited till 7.00pm, nothing happened, and they said, ‘Sorry, we weren’t able to do that,” said the coach. “That’s going to affect us mentally, especially me as a head coach, because I want to focus on technical stuff,” he said. Iran had only been able to do half its usual pre-game training session, complained Ghalenoei.
All four teams in Group G currently have one point, with only the top two guaranteed to reach the knockout stages. A majority of third-placed teams across all groups will also progress, depending on their performance.
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