Before a question could be asked of the Iran\u2019s soccer representatives on Thursday afternoon, it was made clear they only had intentions of addressing anything related to the game played on the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Islamic Republic of the Iran Football Federation has asked us to inform the media that they are only willing to answer questions in relation to the game. We fully respect the right of all journalists to ask questions. In this case, we ask you respect the rights of the federation here today to only answer questions in relation to the team, the tactics, the match, and so on,\u201d FIFA\u2019s Daniel Marin said before the news conference starting.<\/p>\n
And then Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei proceeded to be asked on multiple occasions whether his team will be able to focus just on what\u2019s happening on the field Friday night facing Egypt in its final group stage match of the FIFA Men\u2019s World Cup<\/a> and not be distracted by what might be going on in the stands or outside of Seattle Stadium.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, I said to you earlier we are here to play football. For nothing else,\u201d Ghalenoei said through an interpreter. \u201cOur entire focus is going to be on tomorrow\u2019s game, on succeeding in tomorrow\u2019s game. And anything else that is banned in our league, we don\u2019t want to speak about it. We are only going to speak about football, what a beautiful game it is and how enjoyable it\u2019s going to be.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n For more than six months, the Iran soccer team gained as much attention, words and airtime as any of the host countries or elite national teams taking part in the World Cup. And none of it had to do with the actual game being played.<\/p>\n At first, it was Iran being drawn to play in Seattle at the start of Pride weekend in the city and in a match deemed a Pride celebration<\/a> by the local organizing committee. That was followed by months of uncertainty whether the Iranians would be able to even participate after attacks by the United States and Israel led to an ongoing Middle East conflict.<\/p>\n But the focus on the Pride events returned to the forefront the day before Iran plays perhaps the most important match in its World Cup history. A win over Egypt would send Iran to the knockout rounds for the first time. A draw could end up being enough depending on what happens elsewhere.<\/p>\n It\u2019s understandable why Iran wanted to focus only on the soccer. It\u2019s also understandable the question continues to be asked about how Iran and Egypt \u2014 countries where same-sex relationships are criminalized \u2014 feel about being involved in a match that was predetermined before the draw to be a celebration of the region\u2019s LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a head coach, as technical director, we are all focused on football. This is all we think about,\u201d Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said through an interpreter.<\/p>\n For Iran, it\u2019s not just questions about the expectation of Pride flags being displayed by fans inside the stadium. It\u2019s also about the \u201cLion and Sun\u201d flag, the pre-revolutionary flag of Iran, that has been banned by FIFA but managed to find its way into the country\u2019s first two matches of the tournament in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n \u201cAll our thoughts are going to be focused on football, on the beautiful game of football, on our success. We are going to be positive. We are not going to think about any other issues,\u201d Ghalenoei said. \u201cWe seek to bring joy to our people and when the game starts, all our focus is going to be on the pitch. We are not going to think about what is going on outside of the pitch, because the game is going to be so arduous. It is going to be so exciting that we are going to have our total focus on that. We are representatives of our great Iranian nation and great Iranian country and football only. We are only focused on football and nothing else.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n While most of the focus leading up to 8 p.m. Friday night will be on the scenes away from the grass of the stadium, eventually the attention will be on what happens on the field.<\/p>\n Iran opened the tournament with a 2-2 draw against New Zealand before playing to a thoroughly boring 0-0 draw with Belgium that Fox Sports analyst and former Sweden star Zlatan Ibrahimovic joked put him to sleep.<\/p>\n The one highlight from the draw with Belgium was Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand\u2019s stunning left-handed save<\/a> in the second half with Belgium\u2019s Maxim De Cuyper staring at an open net.<\/p>\n \u201cI have put my entire focus on tomorrow\u2019s game and I hope for the first time Iran will qualify and advance to the knockout stage, and then I can think about myself and how I have progressed in life,\u201d Beiranvand said via an interpreter. \u201cBut tomorrow is only about Egypt.\u201d<\/p>\n To be fair, Iran has faced obstacles no other team in the tournament has to date without even taking into account the war in its home country.<\/p>\n