Key events
Results and reports: Here’s what happened on Saturday at the World Cup …
Sweden followed up their 5-1 opening win over Tunisia with a thumping by the same scoreline by the Netherlands, with Sunderland’s Brian Brobbey on the scoresheet twice in Houston. Nick Ames was there:
Deniz Undav kept up his remarkable scoring record for Germany with both off the bench, including a late winner, against an impressive Côte d’Ivoire in Toronto. Leander Schaerlackens was there:
Curaçao earned their first point at a World Cup by holding Ecuador, with a heroic Eloy Room making a joint-record 15 saves in Kansas City. Ed Aarons was there:
And Herve Renard’s first game in charge of Tunisia was just as poor as Sabri Lamouchi’s final match, with Japan racking up the goals in Monterrey. Jonathan Wilson was there:
Iran’s Ghalenoei bemoans lack of support from other 47 managers
Ben Fisher
Iran’s head coach, Amir Ghalenoei, expressed his disappointment at the lack of support from the other 47 managers at the World Cup amid further chaos on the eve of their crunch match against Belgium.
Iran arrived in Los Angeles from their base in Tijuana, Mexico, soon after midday on Saturday, less than 24 hours before their second Group G game. Iran had requested to arrive in LA two days before the match but were not permitted to do so and have voiced their frustrations to Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, about feeling the “most oppressed” team at the tournament. Belgium, meanwhile, arrived on Friday to prepare for the match.
“I haven’t heard anything from other coaches and I’m sure they’re busy with preparing their own teams and we never expect them to show any reaction,” Ghalenoei said. “But if I had seen another team being treated the way we’ve been treated, I would have [done it].
“I have not seen any reactions from anyone but it seems like the honourable coach of Belgium [Rudi Garcia] has said we are here for football, not politics, and I’m saying exactly the same thing. Our grievances are to do with the way [Fifa] have behaved towards us.”
Ghalenoei detailed how Iran waited in limbo on Friday evening after being given encouragement by Fifa that Iran may be able to travel earlier to LA than initially permitted. Ghalenoei said the team were ready to leave their base in Tijuana but the evening passed without Fifa giving them the green light.
“They [Fifa] phoned me and said: ‘Are you ready if we get you a flight at 6pm?’ I welcomed that but we sat and waited and waited,” Ghalenoei said. “We waited until 7pm, nothing happened. ‘OK, sorry, we weren’t able to do that.’ That’s going to affect us mentally, especially me as a head coach … I know Fifa is trying its best, I thank them for that but it doesn’t mean they have succeeded.”
Ghalenoei confirmed they have been granted permission to fly to Seattle two days before their final Group G match against Egypt on Friday, but questioned why they have been prevented from doing so for their other matches in the US. “Why didn’t they let us come earlier for the first two games as well?” the 62-year-old said. “They’ve allowed us to make our own decisions with regards to planning the travel but unfortunately for the first two games others made these decisions for us.”
Preamble
Tunisia are out, after a thumping defeat against Japan in Group F. Curaçao are still in there fighting, after a heroic 0-0 draw against Ecuador in Group E … Germany and the Netherlands, meanwhile, appear to be moving ominously through the gears. Let’s talk about the World Cup.
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