Iranian National Football Team Manager Amir Ghalenoei has called his squad the “most repressed team in the whole World Cup,” stating they were ordered to leave Los Angeles for their training base in Mexico shortly after their opening match against New Zealand.
Ghalenoei said through an interpreter that ESPN, the team had expected to remain overnight in California and carry out a recovery session the next day. However, immediately after the final whistle, he was told they must return.
Iran captain Mehdi Taremi confirmed FIFA President Gianni Infantino visited the team in the locker room following Monday’s game. Taremi stated that while Infantino wants to help, it is also about other things, referring to long-standing tensions between the US and Iran, even as a peace deal is set to end over 100-day war this week.
The Iranian national squad was initially based in Tucson, Arizona, but moved their camp to Tijuana, Mexico, in late May due to logistical and visa issues.