Mehdi Taremi spoke without filters and without fear. 🔥 Iran’s captain walked out of the SoFi Stadium locker room and let it all out: the absence of the president of his own federation, the press officer, and key members of the coaching staff. “It was a disaster”, he said bluntly.
And he had more than enough reasons. The U.S. only allowed the Iranian squad to enter hours before the match against New Zealand (2-2 draw) and forced them to leave the country as soon as the final whistle blew. 15 visas were denied — executives and part of the coaching staff watched the debut from Tijuana, Mexico. The team’s analyst had to take on communications duties alone. Head coach Amir Ghalenoei also revealed that FIFA rejected Iran’s request to play its matches in Mexico or Canada. Even Gianni Infantino had to go down to the locker room to hear the players’ complaints. ⚡
Despite all that chaos, Taremi was clear: Iran will not use any of this as an excuse. Could it be that this time the organizers will at least allow them to arrive the day before? 😤