Football Across the Border: Iran's Bullying and Heroic Granny

The fifth day of the World Cup presented several high-profile stories at once. The Iranian national team started the tournament amid a scandal over visa restrictions and claims against the United States, Egypt and Saudi Arabia took away points from the favorites, and the main character of the day unexpectedly became the goalkeeper of the debutant of the Cape Verde World Cup, who did not allow Spain to start the tournament with a victory. About the main events of the fifth game day of the World Cup — in the material of Izvestia.

In a special position

The fact that Iran would have big organizational problems at the World Cup became clear back in March, when at the height of the aggression of the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic, rumors spread that the Americans would not allow part of the delegation to enter their territory during the World Cup.

Perhaps everything would have turned out to be much softer if the matches of the Iranian national team had been held in Canada or Mexico. But initially, by lot, the team got all three group stage matches in the USA. Prior to the pile, back in the spring, Trump threatened members of the delegation not to enter the country, referring to their possible involvement in the state and security structures of Iran.

The promise was kept — 15 representatives of the National Football Federation, the coaching staff and the technical staff did not receive American visas. This problem was partially solved by the fact that the Iranians chose Mexican Tijuana as their permanent base.

They could train properly there. But it was impossible to use part of the staff during the matches. Closer to the first games, the American side announced that the Persians would be allowed to stay in the United States only on the day of the games.

Technically, this was not the case — the team arrived in Los Angeles a little over a day before the match with New Zealand. But immediately after the meeting, they were forced to fly back to Mexico.

Meanwhile, Iran's national football team player Mehdi Torabi was threatened with disqualification from playing at the World Cup due to the fact that he entered on a single-entry visa. The head coach of the Persians, Amir Galenoi, called his team the most oppressed in this tournament. Even FIFA President Gianni Infantino's visit to the national team's locker room, which ended with routine statements, did not help smooth the impression.

On top of that, the players were "lucky" to start the tournament in Los Angeles, where the Iranian diaspora numbers about half a million people. However, most of them are those who emigrated after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and their descendants. They have a very negative attitude towards the current government.

It is not surprising that they announced the protest actions in advance on the day of the arrival of their former country's national team. And we tricked them. And some went to the stadium with flags bearing the coat of arms of pre-revolutionary Iran, ignoring FIFA directives on the inadmissibility of political actions at matches. At the same time, shortly before the start of the World Cup, the United States canceled the quota for fans from Iran itself.

It is difficult to assess how successful the first match of the Persians turned out to be against this background. They had to fight back twice with the potential outsider of the group, New Zealand. As a result, they achieved a 2-2 draw. Mohammad Mohebi, who plays for Rostov, scored the second goal for the Iranians.

In another Group G match, Egypt unexpectedly took points from Belgium (1-1). As a result, all four teams have one point each after the first round.

"The expected lawlessness on the part of American politicians, but the fact that FIFA has essentially swallowed it up is also not surprising," Andrei Chervichenko, the former owner of Spartak Moscow, shared his opinion with Izvestia. — We have seen more than once how in recent years and even in the last decade numerous international sports federations have been dancing to the tune of the United States, as evidenced by the massive suspension of Russians, including the national football team. Well, how Infantino creeps in front of Trump... Everything has long been clear after he built a special FIFA peace prize for his friend, which may be abolished soon. A circus, that's all. I feel sorry for Iran in these conditions, but I would like to wish its players to just pull themselves together and perform successfully at the tournament.

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The hero from Cape Verde

June 15th was full of sensations at the World Cup. And the matter was not limited to one draw between Egypt and Belgium. So, Saudi Arabia drew with Uruguay (1:1), and the South American national team escaped defeat only at the end of the match.

But Cape Verdean football players beat everyone. This is the first time this country has reached the final stage at the World Cup. And immediately I played with Spain, the reigning European champion. Lamin Yamal and other world football stars from the Iberian Peninsula have not been able to print the gates of the African team.

Russian goalkeeper Jose Josimar, better known as Vozinha (translated into Russian as Granny), became the hero. Having made seven saves, he brought his national team a draw and burst into tears after the final whistle. This contributed to a sharp rise in his popularity on social networks. Instagram account of the 40-year-old goalkeeper (owned by Meta Corporation, which is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation) began to rapidly gain followers immediately after the game.

Before the match, there were 46 thousand of them. In the first hour after the match, there were over 2 million. By 10 a.m. on June 16, Moscow time, there were already 5.6 million. By the evening of June 16, they had reached 7.8 million people. In terms of popularity in this social network, Vozinya surpassed Alexander Ovechkin. He is now the most popular figure in Cape Verde.

Next, he and his team will face matches with Saudi Arabia and Uruguay. All four teams have one point each after the first round.