INGLEWOOD, California — Iran’s head coach Amir Ghalenoei spoke out Saturday against what he called increasingly difficult and unequal conditions surrounding his team’s preparation for their World Cup showdown with Belgium, set for Sunday.
Throughout the tournament, Iran has been headquartered in Tijuana, Mexico, crossing into the United States only for their Group G matches due to restrictions on the team’s presence in the country — an arrangement that has attracted attention since the competition began.
U.S. officials have indicated that the Iranian squad’s travel situation would continue to be evaluated, and conversations about relaxing certain restrictions have been ongoing.
Ghalenoei told reporters Saturday that the current schedule left his squad with fewer than 16 hours to prepare, forcing them to end their training session early before facing Belgium.
“We only managed to train half the time we usually spend on training,” he said through an interpreter. “We wanted to have optimal physical and technical preparation.”
He noted the situation had actually deteriorated compared to the lead-up to Iran’s opening match, a 2-2 draw with New Zealand, when the team had a full 24 hours available to train.
“The conditions have become even harder,” he said.
The coach directed some of his most pointed remarks at what he saw as a clear inconsistency in how Iran’s travel arrangements have been handled. He said he was informed that his team would have more control over their own scheduling before their third and final group stage match against Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
“For the third game, they’ve allowed us to decide to make our own decisions with regards to planning the travel,” he said. “But what my problem is, why didn’t they let us come earlier for the first two games as well?”
“If they’ve managed to do this now, why didn’t they do that for our first game and for this game?” he added.
Despite his complaints about preparation conditions, Ghalenoei offered praise for FIFA president Gianni Infantino and the governing body of world soccer for their efforts to help the situation.
“I know for sure that FIFA and Mr Infantino are doing the utmost to ease these challenges that we are facing,” he said. “I think FIFA did its utmost to minimise the problems we have faced.”
He also acknowledged U.S. authorities for making the entry process smoother once the team arrived in the country.
“Once we entered the United States, they made sure that in customs everything went smoothly,” Ghalenoei said. “I’d like to thank the U.S. for that. But unfortunately, it’s our training time that they did not give us.”
Belgium, who drew 1-1 with Egypt in their opener, are considered the favorites heading into Sunday’s match and had significantly more time to settle in and prepare, according to Ghalenoei.
“Look at the Belgium team. They arrived yesterday noon. They’ve managed to have proper training,” he said.
Still, the Iranian coach expressed confidence in his players heading into the contest. “The Belgian team is a very strong and highly respected team and undoubtedly it’s going to be a tough game tomorrow. But we are also Iranians, and we have good players who have great potential.”
