INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said his team played a “beautiful game” under the worst possible conditions in their 0-0 draw with Belgium at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
Among the reasons Ghalenoei listed that made life difficult on his team were short travel windows, visa complications entering the United States and Mexico in recent weeks, almost no time to properly prepare the team ahead of the tournament and a world-class opponent in FIFA’s No. 10-ranked team Belgium.
“We came into the World Cup under the worst possible conditions,” Ghalenoei told reporters after the Group G game left Iran on two points from two matches. “And still we got a result against a great team and a great manager.
“We played a beautiful game.”
Iran, whose travel from their base in Tijuana, Mexico, into and out of the U.S. has been restricted, landed in the U.S. Saturday night, played Sunday and were due to return to Mexico Sunday night.
“We had two great games without losing,” Ghalenoei said alluding to his team’s opening 2-2 draw with New Zealand. “Tonight we celebrate. Tomorrow we focus on Egypt, which is a very strong team.
“We need to recover and then … we have to fly back. We don’t even have enough time to recover. Tomorrow we will look at [today’s] game and look at the game with Egypt.
“Right now, we need recovery. Sixteen hours, two flights and a heavy game. I don’t think anyone could have endured this. And our players have given everything. What we need the most now is to recover.”
Iran’s Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who plays his club football in Belgium and came on at halftime on Sunday, said at the bare minimum the team wanted to have their entire support staff with them when they travelled and time to adapt to the location they played.
“That’s just the fairness,” Jahanbakhsh said. “I think for all the teams, and I don’t think we are asking for much.
“From the other side, this is part of our culture that in a difficult situation we perform better. I think that united us even more and that’s one of the things we showed today. We showed a great deal of character and part of it comes from the situation we are in, obviously.
Iran play their final match against Egypt on June 26 at Lumen Field in Seattle with an eye to reaching the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time in the country’s history.
“Hopefully for the next game, we can go a bit earlier,” Jahanbakhsh added. “Seattle is a different city, a different place and further from the place where we are staying in Tijuana.”
Both Ghalenoei and Jahanbakhsh also singled out goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand for keeping Iran in the game and helping them earn a valuable point.
He had several key saves in the game, including one right on his own line midway through the second half to keep Belgium out after Kevin De Bruyne’s cross rolled across the Iran goalmouth before Beiranvand smothered the chance.
“He is one of our greatest goalkeepers in the history of Iranian football and he had one of his best days today,” Ghalenoei said. “He had the right concentration and he gave us one very valuable point.”
ESPN’s Beth Lindop contributed to this report.
