When Iran reached the locker room after their tense 2-2 draw against New Zealand on Monday, bouncing back twice from a goal down, they were informed of a late change in travel plan. They wouldn’t be staying in Los Angeles for the night, as was planned earlier, but would fly back to their training camp across the border in Mexico’s Tijuana.

The match ended at 8 pm local time, the team left for the airport at 10 pm, and the flight was scheduled at 11 pm. The reason for the late rescheduling is unclear, although the order came from FIFA.

Iran’s war with the US has officially ended, with President Donald Trump announcing that the “deal’s all signed”. But the battles that Iran’s football team has been waging in the tournament and its build-up continue.
“Our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup,” Amir Ghalenoei, the head coach, fumed before leaving.

“They have said we have to leave immediately. We are really troubled by that. We don’t know why they are returning us, to be honest. It seems very strange. It seems others are doing the planning for us,” he said during the post-match press conference.

After 101 gruelling minutes, the players had no time to pause or rest.

Iran’s build-up to the World Cup was stormy, the war simmering in the backdrop. Until last month, their participation was uncertain: a large section of the home fans wanted to boycott the tournament; most of the players got their visas 10 days before the game; the team wanted their games shifted to Mexico; an unwieldy arrangement was made for Iran to stay in Mexico’s Tijuana, close to the US border, and fly in the day before the game; visa restrictions limited the entry of their officials and staffers.

“Our President isn’t here, our media isn’t here, many of our management team aren’t here. They are making the situation more and more difficult, with more hurdles,” Ghalenoei said.

“Everything is a disaster for us,” striker Mehdi Taremi chimed in, adding that the frantic scheduling would take a toll on the mind and body. “It’s not good for us… It’s not good for football, because in a World Cup, you have to prepare well for the next game, because it is a lot of stress for the players and staff and everyone. But we don’t have that support, and I think FIFA has to help us more than this,” he said.

The players had planned a recovery session in Los Angeles. “We get tired. This kind of thing, I think, is a little bit unfair,” goal-scorer Mohammad Mohebi said.

Sitting in the VIP box was Gianni Infantino, the FIFA boss. Post-game, he visited the locker room and pacified the Iran team. “I know what you go through, I understand,” Infantino told the players. “But you are stronger than everything, and you send a strong message to the entire world.”

Iran displayed resoluteness in the game, rallying back twice after being a goal down. Ramin Rezaeian, the 36-year-old right-back, was their comeback architect, netting the first goal with a sumptuous toe-poke before playing a role in Mohammad Mohebi’s equaliser.

Tension brewed in the stands too. The state of California is home to more than one lakh Irani immigrants. But not all were supporting the team. A section booed the national anthem and waved the pre-revolutionary flag (a lion and sun emblazoned on it). Some of the stewards tried to stop them, as FIFA had won a court order prohibiting the flag’s use. But they didn’t listen. Some of them had come wearing T-shirts with the flag inscribed on them. The security personnel denied them entry, before they pulled jackets over them.

“We are playing for the people of Iran, the people that love us,” Captain Taremi had stressed.

“The national team does not get involved in political issues,” Ghalenoei had said.

In the first half, some fans put up a poster that read “MINAB168”, a reference to the killing of 168 students at a school in southern Iran during the military conflict. During half-time, security personnel seized the poster, and it was not spotted again. Iran’s players, too, had acknowledged the incident, wearing pin badges on their lapels that read ‘#168’, when they landed in Tijuana for the tournament.

Another banner flashed “42,000 #IranMassacre”, referring to the alleged toll following Iran’s crackdown on anti-government protests. Some protesters rallied outside the stadium, waving Israeli flags and urging Trump to resume the war. Some shouted slogans like “mullah’s team is not my team”, when Iran’s team left.

The war may be officially over, but not the battles for Iran’s footballers — and their divided diaspora.