On one aspect had been thousands and thousands of their countrymen, protesters who’ve been urging them to make use of their voices, and their platforms, to do extra to assist the combat for extra rights, extra freedoms, extra accountability. On the opposite was Iran’s authorities, illiberal of dissent and keen to crush it forcibly.
The Iranian gamers had examined their limits in Qatar, declining to sing their nationwide anthem earlier than their opening recreation, solely to regulate, days later, and seem to grudgingly undergo the motions earlier than a match in opposition to Wales.
The U.S. Soccer Federation raised the stakes by posting on social media a gaggle standings desk with an altered model of the Iranian flag — horizontal inexperienced, white and pink stripes, stripped of the nation’s official emblem and contours of Islamic script eliminated. A spokesman for the federation mentioned the change was a present of assist for the Iranian girls who’ve put themselves in danger to protest authorities restrictions, however the posts had been then deleted.
Iran’s federation responded angrily, calling the transfer deeply insulting and calling on FIFA, soccer’s world governing physique, to expel the USA from the World Cup.
The 2 nations had met simply as soon as earlier than in a World Cup, in 1998, when Iran prevailed, 2-1, in one other politically charged match for its first World Cup victory. That emotional recreation within the group stage had folks dancing within the streets of Tehran.
For the regime in Tehran, one other victory over the USA on Tuesday would have held immense worth, a degree of nationwide status that it may have claimed as its personal.
For the protesters, Iran’s continued presence on the world’s largest sporting occasion would have meant extra days within the highlight, extra deal with their nation and their trigger, extra possibilities to jeer the federal government in refined — and vocal — methods inside stadiums. Some hoped that celebrations of an Iranian win would morph into one other spherical of demonstrations.