Iran’s manager Amir Ghalenoei has criticised the 47 other national team head coaches at this World Cup for their failure to support his side.
The Middle Eastern team are still banned from staying inside the United States and have to travel in from Mexico for each game, a schedule which hampers their rest and match preparation.
Ahead of this clash, with his side’s issue still not resolved, Ghalenoei said: ‘I asked the other 47 coaches a question, and none of them have responded to me.
‘We are here for football, not politics, and we are saying that again. Our grievances are about the way they’ve behaved with us.
‘I haven’t heard anything from other coaches (at the World Cup), and I’m sure they’re busy and preparing their own teams, and we never expect them to have a reaction. But if I had seen another team being treated the way we are being treated, I would say something.’
He has previously called Iran ‘the most oppressed team in the whole World Cup’.
Luke Power
