LOS ANGELES – The reaction to a draw in the World Cup is all about perspectives and circumstances.
Whether it was tournament favorite Spain and World Cup debutant Cape Verde in Atlanta to open Monday’s slate, Belgium and Egypt’s Group G opener in Seattle or Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in Miami, each side the emotions can run the gamut from thrilled, to pleased, to disappointed.
It’s all about where you’re coming from, and for Iran and New Zealand, the destination was both beside the journey and the journey itself on Monday night at SoFi Stadium.
Elijah Just scored twice to put New Zealand up twice and within tantalizing reach of the nation’s first-ever World Cup victory, but Iran rode the energy of the diaspora crowd in Los Angeles and showed the determination to power through its circumstances to tie the game twice in a 2-2 draw to open Group G.
It was the fourth of four draws on Monday, which marked just the second time in World Cup history with four draw in one day of play. There had been four draws total in the first four days of the tournament.
“We came here to win, and today, we were so close to making history,” New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley said, “and that hurts, because the game's now finished. We got a point. We didn't lose the game. We're in the tournament. You see the table now, there's one, one, one, one. So all four teams are in it. But it gets tougher. We've got still two good teams to play against.”
With Belgium and Egypt also playing to a draw, all four teams in Group G are tied at one point a piece. New Zealand and Iran lead the pack based on goals scored with the Kiwis technically topping the group for now.
New Zealand next play Egypt in Vancouver on Sunday, with Iran coming back to Los Angeles to take on Belgium also on Sunday.
“It was an incredible atmosphere during the game, all 90 minutes,” Iranian forward Medhi Taremi said. “We’re very happy about that. It was like a home for us. I hope they do it the next two games same thing.”
The support from the Iranian diaspora crowd–with a fair amount of sympathetic Mexican supporters mixed in–was undeniable.
Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Southern California became home to the largest population of Iranians outside of Iran, and those generations of Iranian-Americans came out to support their soccer team–with voiced mixed feelings on the current regime.
However, less on that here and more on the soccer–as was the direction of the Iranian players and coach in the postmatch press conferences.
Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said his team played with energy and “wholeheartedly,” and it was clear that Team Melli rode the wave of the crowd early. That was until New Zealand joined the party.
The All Whites–named such as counterparts to New Zealand’s famous rugby All Blacks, both of which are named for the uniforms they traditionally wear–struck back against the run of play in the seventh minute with the first of several beautiful combination plays between veteran captain Chris Wood and 26-year-old striker Just.
“That’s a memory that will last me the rest of my life,” Just said of his two-goal night.
The sides would exchange chances all night long, but Iran got its first equalizer with a stroke of luck in the 32nd minute.
The ball ping-ponged through the New Zealand defense, and eventually found Ramin Razaeian on the doorstep to poke the game level, 1-1.
Into the second half, Wood and Just combined again on a gorgeous give-and-go to put the Kiwis up for the second time in the match, 2-1 in the 54th minute.
Five days into the tournament, Just is in a four-way tie for the Golden Boot with a tournament-high two goals matching Folarin Balogun (USA), Kai Havertz (Germany) and Yasin Ayari (Sweden).
But what eluded New Zealand in this game was just a bit more. Whether it was one more stroke of offense or a cleaner defensive execution, the All Whites were left on the doorstep of history once again.
New Zealand has made the World Cup just twice previous with three losses in 1982 and three draws in 2010. The Kiwis matched their offensive output from each of those two tournaments on Monday night.
“Somebody has to have a moment on the world stage for us to go and win a game of football,” Bazeley said. “Eli Just just had two in the game, scored two great goals, and that's gonna live forever for him and for the All Whites, and if we can get that next one and win a game, then we make history, and then we can move forward in a great space.”
Where New Zealand could not find that extra step, Iran produced its own slice of brilliance to get back level once more in the 64th minute.
From the right win, Razaeian sent of rope of a cross into the box, where it found the head of Mohebbi and into the back of the net, 2-2.
Each side would have opportunities down the stretch, but both went home with one point in as entertaining of a draw as you’ll find.
“You have to look at both sides,” Just said. “We played so well. Everybody is happy. At the same time, if we maybe defend smarter in a few moments, maybe keep the ball a little bit more and control the game, maybe we’re looking at three points. You can’t be disappointed. A point in the World Cup is always tough to get.”
With the match finished, the one last bit of needed perspective was put on full blast by the Iranian players and coach in the postmatch media sessions.
Partially due to the geopolitical and military conflict between Iran and the host nation United States, Iran moved its soccer training base camp from Tuscon, Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico before the start of the tournament. Along with that–although Ghalenoei said he has still not been given a direct explanation why this is the case–Iran’s team has extra travel restrictions for its games scheduled in the United States.Namely, Iran could only arrive the day before the game–which including a five-hour travel time from Tijuana to Los Angeles, likely due to immigration–and had to leave immediately following Monday’s game.
Most teams in the World Cup arrive to their game location two days prior to the match and leave the next day.
Iran is already without its federation president, media and other staff members due to visa restrictions, which led Ghalenoei to call his team “the most oppressed team in the World Cup,” via a FIFA translator.
However, Ghalenoei also said his team has found home and support from the Mexican people in Tijuana, and said his team “was not homesick at all” thanks to that community.
It’s the little things that provide perspective, even in something as small as a drawn soccer game.