Iran Thoroughly Enjoys Home Away From Home
It was a great day to play two, so the U.S. Soccer Federation did just that at the Rose Bowl on Sunday--sending out the men’s varsity to avenge the Great Capitulation Of Lyon (Iran 2, USA 1 at World Cup ‘98), followed by the under-23 Olympic team against Armenia.
A home-and-away series for the Americans, as it turned out.
The Rose Bowl was resplendent in green, red and white, teeming with loud, patriotic fans honking air horns, brandishing Iranian flags and roaring with delight as Khodadad Azizi turned the U.S. defense into a dribble-around-the-traffic-cones practice drill as he set up the game’s first goal.
“We were a little confused in the first 15 minutes,” U.S. defender Frankie Hejduk said, and of course, they had to be. The map said it was Pasadena, the San Gabriel Mountains in the distance seconded that opinion, but everywhere you looked inside the stadium, it was Little Teheran.
There appeared to be more Americans in the press box than in the stands. Announced attendance was 50,181, which seemed to be low by about 10,000; evidently, Major League Soccer wasn’t keeping tabs on turnstiles this day. Whatever the number, the crowd’s allegiances broke down roughly this way:
Iranian: 85%. American: 8%. Armenian (neutrals, presumably): 7%.
At home, the Americans looked like tourists. They fell behind early, nervously conceding a goal in the seventh minute, before catching their breath and scratching out an equalizer and an eventual 1-1 draw amid adverse conditions--on the road, in Southern California.
During the postgame interview session, U.S. Coach Bruce Arena was asked if he’d be interested in a “return match” against the Iranian national team in Teheran.
Why not? His team had just completed a 90-minute dry run.
“Sure, I’d be interested in a rematch there,” Arena replied. “I don’t get involved in the politics with these kind of decisions, but I would love to play Iran again.”
Iran’s coach, Mansour Pourhaidari, said he would welcome the opportunity.
“Every time you play a game, there must be a return game,” Pourhaidari said, before adding with a grin: “Then, we can beat them better than we did the last game.”
He had to bring that one up, didn’t he? The Darkest Day In The History Of American International Soccer. The 2-1 Iran victory in World Cup group play that left the U.S. national program in disarray, leading to Steve Sampson’s ouster as coach and setting in motion the wheels that planted Arena on the U.S. bench Sunday.
Round Two didn’t entirely wipe away the embarrassment of ‘98, but it did suggest progress and improvement. As Arena noted, in France in ‘98, the United States fell behind Iran by a goal and fell apart, but after Iran went ahead, 1-0, the Americans picked themselves up, managed an equalizer and might have won if not for a goal post here or botched header (Brian McBride, 35th minute) there.
Still, it was dicey for a while. Iran might have been up, 3-0, by the 25th minute, had Azizi not hit the side of the net after beating U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel to a free ball in the box, then pinged the post after U.S. defender Jeff Agoos slipped, fell and left Azizi alone in front of the net.
So the Americans caught some breaks. They finally pulled even in the 48th minute, on defensive midfielder Chris Armas’ first international goal, although it was the shot he missed--just wide of the left post, with the goalie off his line and beaten, 70th minute--that prompted more discussion afterward.
“I’m not a goal scorer,” Armas said. “I could’ve done better with it. [But]it was on my left foot. I did the best I could with it.
“Maybe next time.”
Arena was pleased with the result, considering the roads both teams have traveled since the World Cup. “The [makeup of the] Iranian team is much closer to the team they had at the World Cup,” Arena said. “They’ve made just a couple changes, their nucleus is still there. Our team has been completely rebuilt.”
He was less enamored with the composition of Sunday’s audience.
“We need to start getting behind soccer in this country,” Arena said. “It’s disappointing we don’t have more people supporting U.S. soccer.”
Hejduk, however, thanked the Iranian fans for showing up en masse.
“They made the game,” Hejduk said. “Without the Iranian fans, I don’t know how many people would’ve showed up.
“We had 50,000 people here today. It doesn’t matter if they’re Iranian, Brazilian, whoever. That was a great crowd, an awesome crowd.
“Saying that, you wish your own country would show up. Even if you don’t like the sport--just say, ‘Screw it, let’s go see us beat Iran.’ ”
Maybe if the U.S. women’s team had been playing instead.
Poor Arena. His team not only has to compete against the top international sides in the world, it also has to contend with the untouchable reputation of the U.S. women, the people’s champions.
“We had a stadium today that was close to being full, we were on national TV, it was a good day for soccer,” Arena said. Then, a deadpan, he couldn’t resist.
“Obviously, we’re not the World Cup champions, like our women are. But we’d give our women a good match.”
