Inside the Camps

US-Iran soccer fever is even taking precedence over Justice: the trial of the Tehran mayor on corruption charges was adjourned until after Sunday8217;s match. quot;I cannot hide my sentiments about the match, I pray that Iran wins,quot; said Ghadimi, who owns a home appliance shop. quot;It doesn8217;t matter if they lose against Germany, but this match concerns the country8217;s national pride.8221;quot;For the first time after a 20-year enmity the representatives of the two countries are confronting eachother in healthy battle,quot; said Bijan Shariati, 26, a university student. No politics please

Foerget the Ayatollah, forget the Shah, forget the hostages. American players are a lot more interested in points than politics. quot;We want to win the game for all the right reasons, the three points,quot; Eric Wylnalda said. While there are many rivalries and grudge matches in sports, its rare for one team8217;s backers to denounce their rivals as quot;The Great Satanquot; a term Iran has used for the US since the 1979 Islamic revolution. And, while some teams get into a war of words, the Iranian government has gotten into a war of films, upset by a French TV broadcast of Not Without My Daughter a 1991 movie based on the true story of an American woman who escaped Iran with her daughter against the wishes of her Iranian husband. quot;It8217;s a good movie,quot; US defender Alexi Lalas said speaking tongue-in-cheek about the film, which got negative reviews. quot; I8217;ve seen it several times.quot;

quot;Before the game, we8217;re going to shake hands,and afterwards we8217;re going to exchange shirts,quot; Eric Wynalda said. quot;That should be a good example for the world.8221;