US Men’s Soccer team coach Gregg Berhalter and team captain Tyler Adams were questioned on political topics pertaining to US-Iran relations at a Monday press conference ahead of their much-anticipated matchup with Iran on Tuesday.
Ahead of the third group stage matchup between the US and the Islamic Republic – one that will likely determine which of the two will advance to the Round of 16 – Iranian reporters had questions pertaining to issues that did not exactly have any relation to Tuesday’s matchup.
The press conference featured Berhalter being asked “why he hasn’t asked the US government to remove a Naval ship from around Iran,” by an Iranian reporter, according to USA Today Sports’ Nancy Armour. Berhalter was further pressed regarding US immigration policies and why people with Iranian passports are subjected to restrictions on visiting States, to which he replied, "I don’t know enough about politics, I'm a soccer coach."
Class act: an Iranian reporter criticizes Tyler Adams of @usmnt for mispronouncing #Iran, then asks him if he's comfortable representing the US when the country has such a history of racism against Black peopleHis response is amazing Proud of our players #IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/JelDT2tUIL
— Emily Schrader - אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) November 28, 2022
Later on, Adams was chided for mispronouncing Iran, questioned about the US economy in regards to inflation, and pressed on how he felt about representing a country “that has so much discrimination against black people.” Adams apologized for the mispronunciation before adding that "the US (is) continuing to make progress every single day.”
US vs Iran
While the results of the match will see either one of the sides advance to the knockout stages of the World Cup – sending the other side home in the process – that is far from the only implication of this matchup, which has been mired in geopolitics and controversy since the World Cup groups were announced in April.
While the US-Iran relationship continues to deteriorate and the political situation remains muddled, Iran will also be playing amid the backdrop of protests that have rocked the Islamic Republic since the death of Mahsa Amini in September.
Players from Iran’s national team seemingly supported protestors at the start of their first matchup of the tournament, as they decided not to sing when the Iranian national anthem was played.
Further, US Soccer’s official social media scrubbed the Islamic Republic emblem from Iran’s flag on a graphic in what was ostensibly a show of support for protestors, leading the Iranian federation to file a complaint with FIFA calling for the US to be kicked out of the world cup entirely, per Tasnim News Agency.
By posting a distorted image of the flag of the Islamic Republic of #Iran on its official account, the #US football team breached the @FIFAcom charter, for which a 10-game suspension is the appropriate penalty. Team #USA should be kicked out of the #WorldCup2022 pic.twitter.com/c8I4i4z3Tv
— Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) November 27, 2022
When pressed on the social media controversy, Berhalter said the players and staffers “had no idea about what US Soccer puts out” on social media.
"Our thoughts are with the Iranian people ... but our focus is on this match."
-Gregg Berhalter, USMNT coach.
"Of course, our thoughts are with the Iranian people ... the whole country, the whole team, everyone, but our focus is on this match," Berhalter declared.