INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei called his team perhaps the “most oppressed team in the whole World Cup” after he said Iran have been forced to leave Los Angeles and return to their training camp in Tijuana, Mexico, immediately after their opening match.
After perhaps the most strained buildup for any team in the long history of the World Cup, Iran finally took the pitch Monday at SoFi Stadium, drawing 2-2 with New Zealand in their politically charged opener.
But Ghalenoei began his postgame news conference by expressing his unhappiness that the team’s travel plans — a return to Mexico on Tuesday — had been changed at the last minute.
Iran’s base camp was moved to Tijuana from Arizona weeks before the tournament, despite all three of their group games taking place in the United States.
The team was scheduled to fly to the U.S. two days before each game, before departing the following day.
However, Iran traveled to Los Angeles on Sunday and have said their travel plans were altered again following Monday’s game.
A source on Tuesday said that Torabi’s visa expired, and that the team was asked to return to Tijuana after the match.
“We spent so much time in the air commuting, they didn’t even give us time to recover,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter. “After the game today, they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately.’
“It’s very important for us to have time for recovery, but we’ve been told to return to our camp in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that.”
He added: “I think perhaps our team is the most oppressed team in the whole World Cup.”
Ghalenoei did not say who had instructed the team to leave Monday night, although Iran captain Mehdi Taremi said that FIFA president Gianni Infantino had visited the team in the locker room after Monday’s game.
“For sure, he wants to try to help us, but it’s about other things, too. Everyone knows it,” Taremi said. “I don’t need to mention that because you know where we are.
“I think FIFA has to help us more than this. Let’s see what happens in the future.”
Taremi and Ghalenoei also expressed frustration that the president of Iran’s football federation, Mehdi Taj, along with other members of the team’s support staff, were prevented from traveling to the U.S.
“Everything is a disaster for us,” Taremi said.
In an interview with ABC News, White House World Cup task force executive director Andrew Giuliani pushed back on the criticisms from the Iranian team.
“I think that the United States has been more than fair,” he told ABC News. “We’ve gotten visas for all 31 of the players, gotten visas for every coach, so that way there can be competitive imbalance. So, I would respond by saying that they’re welcome for our hospitality.”
He also said there were visas revoked by the State Department.
Iran had become the first team to participate in a World Cup hosted by a country with which it was at war after months of tension and doubts about their participation.
The fact that Iran’s opening game of this World Cup came just outside Los Angeles — the city with the largest population of Iranians outside of Iran, many of whom arrived after the 1979 Islamic revolution — only added to the anxieties.
There were audible jeers along with loud cheers when the Iranian anthem was played. But once the game began, there was vociferous support for the Iranian team from the crowd of 70,108.
“There were many Iranians here. They believe in different political affiliations, different beliefs, but they all wholeheartedly encouraged us, and I think that’s a victory for all of us,” Ghalenoei said.
Iran fans held up pre- and post-revolutionary flags in celebration when Ramin Rezaeian and Mohammad Mohebbi scored Iran’s goals.
The pre-revolutionary lion-and-sun flags were plentiful despite FIFA banning them from World Cup stadiums in a decision that was upheld in an emergency hearing on the morning of the game.
“I wanted to say thank you to the Iranians who live in Los Angeles; they make a great atmosphere in the game,” Mohebbi said.
Iran will next face European heavyweights Belgium in Inglewood on Sunday before rounding out the group stage against Egypt and Mohamed Salah in Seattle on June 26.
All four teams in Group G drew their games Monday, meaning they are all level on one point apiece going into the second round of games.
Information from ABC News was used in this report.
