The biggest political battle will take place tonight (Tuesday) at 21:00 when the USA and Iran will compete head to head for the ticket to the round of 16 of the World Cup. On the eve of the match, the Perez are in second place in Group B, while the Americans have yet to win the tournament and are in third place.
USA team composition: Matt Turner, Serginho Dest, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Tim Ream, Anthony Robinson, Yunus Moussa, Tyler Adams, Weston McKenney, Tim Waugh, Christian Pulisic and Josh Sargent.
The composition of the Iranian national team: Alireza Bayerband, Sardar Azmon, Saeed Azatolai, Ali Gulizadeh, Ahsan Hajsafi, Majid Hosseini, Milad Mohammadi, Ahmed Nurulhai, Morteza Forlighani, Ramin Razian and Mehdi Tarmi.
Before the meeting, the drama in the Iranian team is at its peak. According to a report on the ‘CNN’ network, Iran coach Carlos Queiroz met with representatives of the Revolutionary Guards and asked them to take their pressure off the players, after they received threats that their family members would be arrested if they did not sing the national anthem before the game.
It is also claimed that the players received threats that their families would be tortured if they did not “behave properly” in front of the United States, referring to the singing of the national anthem. The players have already been called to a meeting with members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards after the opening game of the World Cup against England, and were warned not to join the political protest against the regime in Tehran.
As I remember, against Wales, the Iranians did sing the national anthem. The ‘CNN’ source claimed to be closely monitoring Iran’s security agencies operating in Qatar during the World Cup, and it was claimed that dozens of officers from the Revolutionary Guards were recruited to monitor the Iranian players who are not allowed to mingle outside their camp and meet with foreigners.
The families of Iran’s World Cup soccer team have been threatened with imprisonment and torture if the players fail to “behave” ahead of the match against the USA on Tuesday, a source involved in the security of the games said. https://t.co/nXwZoW0Nqu
— CNN (@CNN) November 28, 2022
Coach Carlos Queiroz reportedly met with Revolutionary Guards officers following the threats his players received. The content of the conversation was not disclosed and it was only claimed that the Portuguese said that his players could protest, but only within the framework of FIFA regulations, when he asked them to calm down the issue of threats.
Also in ‘CNN’ it was claimed that the players were promised cars and gifts before the match against England, but instead the regime moved to threaten the players and their families following the humiliation of not singing the national anthem. They also claim that in the game against Wales the regime sent quite a few “fake fans” to create a good feeling in the audience, when in the upcoming game against the USA they intend to increase this amount to thousands.
The United States and Iran have met only once before, then it was in the 1998 World Cup, when the Iranian team was the one that celebrated with a 1:2. The United States must win to qualify for the next round, while a draw will be enough for Iran assuming Wales do not run over the England team.