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Journalism of Courage
A historic battle
For millions of die-hard Iranian soccer fans, defeating the United States in a preliminary World Cup match would be as good as winning the soccer tournament itself. When Iran8217;s soccer team takes on the United States on Sunday Iran will come to a halt as millions of fans will watch the tournament8217;s most hyped game on television. quot;This match concerns the country8217;s national pride,quot; said Iraj Ghadimi, a Tehran shopkeeper. Hospitals have been put on alert, cafes have set up TV screens and exams have been put off.
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;
