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In North Texas, Native Iranians Cheer On Their World Cup Team

almonfoto
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Shutterstock.com

It’s crunch time in the World Cup as teams from around the globe are facing elimination. And just about every delegation has a group watching in North Texas. Today, one of the teams that has to win to survive is Iran.

  About 40 people got together Saturday at The Persian Cultural Center in Richardson to watch their team’s underdog match against Argentina. 

“Soccer is the biggest sport in Iran I would say, and I would say in the whole Asia and Middle East, the whole world,” said SaeedAfkami, who's from Tehran and has been in the U.S. for 20 years.

“Oh my God, it’s the same as South America,” he said. “[The] United States just recently the past few years just got into soccer.”

The Iranian squad is called “Team Melli” – Persian for “national team” -- and it’s back in the World Cup for the first time since 2006.

The crowd watched Saturday’s game on a projection screen on a stage. As the players lined up for the national anthem, so did the fans in Richardson.

Shokooh Haghighi says watching her country play on a national stage brings up mixed emotions.

“I’m always proud of Iranian people, but I’m never proud of Iranian government,” she said.

Before the match, not many fans gave Iran a chance to win.

Two games into the World Cup, Iran hasn’t scored a goal yet, but a save by the goalie gave them reason to cheer.

Argentina scored a late goal and Iran lost 1-0. Iran kicks off its elimination match against Bosnia at 11 a.m. 

Photo credit: almonfoto/Shutterstock.com