Iran twice come from behind to claim draw in World Cup opener with New Zealand

What, really, were the emotions flowing through the veins of Iran’s players as they took to the pitch in Los Angeles? A few hours earlier Donald Trump, in France before the G7 summit, said a peace deal had been signed. A penny for the thoughts, too, of the Fifa president up in the VIP seats, Gianni Infantino, who in effect admitted he was powerless to prevent Iran from the chaos that has overshadowed their participation.

Finally, then, for 101 minutes against New Zealand at least, Iran’s players were able to focus on the football, just as their head coach, Amir Ghalenoei, vowed they would. Goals from Mohammad Mohebbi and Ramin Rezaeian cancelled out a smart Eli Just double. The cue of a partisan crowd provided the kind of joy Iran captain Mehdi Taremi conceded had been missing in recent months.

With the Hollywood hills visible from parts of this spectacular stadium, covered by a teardrop-shaped canopy underneath which there is a wraparound LED chandelier, Iran did not seem bogged down by political baggage. After all, this was arguably the most politically supercharged sporting event in history, given the hurdles Iran overcame just to take to the field in Los Angeles – this was the first of three Group G games in the USA, the country with which Iran has been at war with since February. Eleven Iran officials were refused entry to the US, prompting them to relocate their team base from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico. Their training programme was delayed.

Then there is the volatility of Iranian politics and the associated infighting. There are hundreds of thousands of Iranian-Americans based in the area of town tagged “Tehrangeles”, home to the biggest population of Iranians outside of Iran, many of whom fled religious and political persecution. But there is division among Iranians, some of whom protested outside the team hotel and outside the stadium here with clear messages against the Islamic Republic; one activist said the regime has turned athletes into mouthpieces, others referred to Iran’s government as terrorists.

The backdrop made for a few different sights on the open-top bus tour of the city in the hours before kick-off. Protestors carried the pre-revolutionary flag of Iran, sold merchandise with the controversial sun and lion emblem, portraits of the former shah of Persia. On the day of the game a Fifa ban on the flags was upheld by a judge after a lawsuit was filed to LA’s superior court. While Fifa’s code of conduct prohibits materials of “political, offensive and/or discriminatory nature”, several carried the flags into the ground unchallenged; one couple were asked to simply remove the sticks attached to them. Iran’s sports minister, Ahmad Donyamali, had been quoted as saying their players would abandon the match if they heard political slogans in the ground.

But inside this spectacular stadium, there was little in the way of opposition. From the moment Taremi exchanged pennants with Chris Wood, the support for Iran was overwhelmingly positive. Unlike in their opening game in Qatar four years ago, Iran sang the national anthem, which in itself is a divisive issue. Iran, all in white against the All Whites, made a fast start but trailed on seven minutes when Just juggled the ball in the box and wellied it past Alireza Beiranvand. It was a fine move that stemmed from Wood controlling on his chest a long kick downfield by the Millwall goalkeeper Max Crocombe. Wood and Just then combined in the box, the latter taking the ball away from Ali Nemati with his left boot and then smacking in with the laces of his right.

A loose contest meant plenty of openings. Shahriar Moghanloo made, surely, a goal-saving block, taking the ball off the toes of Wood after the Nottingham Forest striker wound up a shot and Taremi cracked an effort against the post after soaring to the edge of the 18-yard box from inside his own half. Iran levelled when Rezaeian poked in, the 36-year-old rewarded for burning towards goal after sending a delightful pass infield with the outside of his right foot. Saman Ghoddos’s first-time pass into Moghanloo was sumptuous and while Moghanloo couldn’t convert, Rezaeian ghosted past Michael Boxall to send his shot past Crocombe.

It always felt unlikely the goals would stop there and Just scored his and his country’s second 10 minutes into the second half. He again dovetailed with Wood and while Wood screamed for the Motherwell striker to square, he coolly dinked the ball over Beiranvand. New Zealand again failed to hold on to their lead, Mohebbi heading in via a post nine minutes later after finding himself unmarked between centre-backs Boxall and Finn Surman. Mohebbi celebrated by putting his hands out as if to say: Well, how about that, then? That feeling was shared at the final whistle.

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