After turbulent World Cup road, Iran plays to draw with New Zealand
The Iranian national team finally started playing football.
Their journey to the World Cup was uniquely fraught with war breaking out between their home country and the country hosting their matches.
They were forced to move their base camp from Arizona to Tijuana, struggled to get the entire traveling team into the United States during visa review, and accepted President Trump’s suggestion that they might not be safe if they chose to play in the World Cup.
By shifting the focus solely to football, Iran 2-2 draw Monday night’s game against New Zealand in front of a crowd of 70,108 at SoFi Stadium may have felt like a victory because of the sheer fight it took for Team Melli to play in Inglewood.
Iranian forward Mohammad Mohebi (8) scores with a header in the second half against New Zealand in their World Cup group match on Monday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
All teams in Group G are tied on one point each after Belgium and Egypt drew 1-1 earlier on Monday.
All the Whites showed no signs of being bothered by the pro-Iran crowd or the fact that they sit 65 places behind Iran in the FIFA world rankings.
Iran fell behind twice but the team recovered to avoid falling to the bottom of the group.
The positions created by both teams in extra time never turned into a winning goal.
New Zealand struck first.
New Zealand forward Elijah Just (right) celebrates after scoring his second goal against Iran on Monday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Elijah Just thundered into the box and appeared to be pinballing around the Iranian defence. He passed the ball to Sarpreet Singh, who passed the ball to Chris Wood in the box. Wood then passed the ball back to Just, who took a touch before tapping the ball to score New Zealand’s first goal in the seventh minute.
A small but hearty group of New Zealand fans cheered.
After the hydration break, Iranian Ramin Rezaeian pushed the ball towards the penalty area and touched Saman Ghoddos. Shahriyar Moghanlou’s shot was blocked, but Rezaeian was in position to deflect it into the bottom left corner of the net in the 32nd minute.
The stadium roared as Mexican fans joined Iranian fans in chanting and waving flags.
1. Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand watches the ball go into the net after New Zealand forward Elijah Just scored in the first half. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) 2. Iranian defender Milad Mohammadi jumped over the New Zealand defender in the second half. (Kelvin Kuo / Los Angeles Times) 3. New Zealand defender Finn Surman chased the ball ahead of Iranian forward Ali Alipour in the second half. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 4. Iran football team fans showed their support during the team’s 2-2 draw with New Zealand. (Kelvin Kuo / Los Angeles Times)
Towards the end of the first half, both teams had the opportunity to break the tie.
New Zealand won a free kick just outside the penalty area in the 45th minute. Wood shot straight at goal but Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand collected the ball easily.
During first-half stoppage time, Rezaeian’s free kick was headed towards goal by Ali Nemati, but Nemati was clearly offside and the goal was disallowed by the referees.
In the 54th minute, Iran turned the ball over and scored the second goal of the match.
Iran responded in the 64th minute with Rezaeian’s cross header from Mohammad Mohebi, equalizing the score and delighting the fans.
Iranian forward Mohammad Mohebi reacts after scoring a second-half goal against New Zealand on Monday.
(Kelvin Kuo / Los Angeles Times)
Before the game, protesters outside SoFi Stadium argued that Iran’s oppressive regime should be sanctioned and banned from competitions for human rights abuses. Other Iranian Americans said they gathered at the venue to cheer on the players rather than Iran’s totalitarian leaders.
Iranian captain and star forward Mehdi Taremi said before the match that he hoped the team, united in the face of major distractions, could provide solace during a difficult time.
“We, as national team players, play for every Iranian, whether it is the Iranian diaspora or Iranians in the country,” Taremi said through his FIFA translator. “Look, people in every country have different views, but as footballers we are here to unite people and we will try to bring joy to all Iranians no matter where they live.
“Everyone has their own opinion and we respect them, but we are here to make the Iranian people happy. We are not involved in politics. We are here to play football.”
Summary of the 2-2 draw between Iran and New Zealand in the World Cup Group G on Monday.
