This post was originally published on Politico.
LOS ANGELES — Moments after Iran and Belgium battled to a scoreless draw at SoFi Stadium, the Belgian players beat a hasty retreat to the locker room.
Not the Iranian World Cup team.
The players on Team Melli lingered on the field, doing a slow lap to cheers from supporters who’d dominated stands with chants of “Iran!” The Iranian players held their hands aloft and clapped for the spectators, some of whom waved Iran’s pre-revolution lion and sun flag, which is seen as a symbol of resistance against the Islamic Republic and is banned by FIFA.
One Iranian American
Leave a Reply