GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) – Sara Didar fought back tears as the Iranian soccer team shared their concerns for their families and loved ones in Australia amid the war. Women’s Asian Cup.
“Obviously we are all concerned and saddened by what happened to Iran and our families in Iran,” Didal told reporters on Wednesday, on the eve of the Group A match against Australia, in comments translated into English.
“I sincerely hope that good news will come to this country, and I hope that my country will continue to live strong.”
The 21-year-old striker was part of the team who observed a moment of silence as the Iranian national anthem played at Gold Coast Stadium before the match. Lost the first game against Korea on Monday.
The team and management arrived in Australia well before Saturday’s attacks by Israel and the United States, which led to widespread conflict.
Coach Marzieh Jafari and players declined to comment About war and the death of a country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the first official press conference of the tournament on Sunday.
On Wednesday, the Asian Football Confederation host asked reporters ahead of a scheduled pre-match press conference to limit their questions to soccer and refrain from asking questions about the war.
When asked questions, Didar and Jafari each expressed concern about the Iranian people.
“Obviously, we are very concerned about the health of our families and loved ones and all other Iranian citizens in the country, and we have completely lost contact,” Jafari said, noting that the power outage in Iran has limited contact.
“But we’re here to play soccer professionally and we’re going to do our best to focus on our soccer and the games ahead.”
At Monday’s game, some Iranian fans waved red, green and white national flags and pre-Islamic revolution flags and shouted support for their team.
Mr Jafari said the team was delighted to have the support of Iranian-Australians.
Australia coach Joe Montemurro said he hoped the team and supporters would treat Iran with compassion. A capacity crowd is expected to be at Gold Coast Stadium for Thursday’s game.
“We want to give them the best tournament possible in terms of giving them a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Montemurro said. “For us, it’s just about showing human compassion and respect and showing how beautiful we are as a country and how beautiful we are as Australians.”
Australia were the 2010 Asian Cup winners and reached the semi-finals of the 2023 World Cup, which they co-hosted with New Zealand. It started with a 1-0 victory. A win against the Philippines and a win against Iran will secure a place in the quarterfinals. The Iranians are in Australia aiming to qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil, but to do so they need to finish in the top eight at the Asian Cup.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
