Published 07.29
LOS ANGELES. Many Iranian players sang along to the national anthem ahead of the World Cup opener against New Zealand.
At the same time, loud boos were heard from parts of the audience.
– If there are any problems between us, you have nothing to do with it, says goalscorer Ramin Rezaeian.
Before the match, people gathered outside Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles to protest against the Iranian regime – and during Iran’s national anthem, the expressions of discontent continued.
Sweden’s Saman Ghoddos, who started the match, did not sing along to the national anthem. Many others did, including fullback Ramin Rezaeian.
“Don’t you have anything to do with it”
After the game, Rezaeian gave his view on parts of the crowd booing during the national anthem.
– We are here to answer football questions. You must understand, my people in Iran are amazing. They are very good at everything. The whole world now knows about my people. If there are any problems between us, it is our business. You have nothing to do with that. I respect you, but this is something between us, and we will work it out. Don’t worry, he says.
“They deserve more”
The 36-year-old scored the 1-1 goal in the match which ended 2-2.
He is unhappy with one point.
– I think we deserved to win the match. But that’s football, sometimes you don’t get what you want. I still want to thank my teammates, my friends and my people in Iran. They deserve more, says Ramin Rezaeian.
Saman Ghoddos, 32, was born in Malmö and previously played for Östersund in the Allsvenskan. He made two international training matches for Sweden before he chose in 2017 to represent Iran instead.
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