| | CLAREMONT, Calif. -- When the U.S. soccer team takes the
field for its exhibition game against Iran, expect the predominant
flag waving from the stands to be green, white and red, not red,
white and blue.
"Welcome to Southern California," U.S. coach Bruce Arena said,
shaking his head and smiling.
The United States seems like the visitors when they play Mexico and
other Latin American teams in heavily Hispanic Southern California, although
they were cheered during their 1994 World Cup upset of Colombia at
the Rose Bowl.
But there are also as many as 600,000 Iranian-Americans living
in and around Los Angeles, and for many of them, Sunday's game at
the Rose Bowl will be their first chance to see Iran's national team, which is playing its first three games in the United States this month.
"I have many relatives flying in from San Francisco, Texas, New
Mexico, and Washington, D.C.," said Ali Ghalambor, a native of
Iran who came to the United States in 1984. "We are very excited
about it. I went to games in Iran and have watched the team on TV,
but this is my first chance to see them in many years."
Ghalambor is taking his 7-year-old son, Moji.
"I'm sure it will be something for him to remember," he said.
U.S. midfielder Claudio Reyna said he and his teammates are
accustomed to fan opposition.
"I've been around it so many times, so I'm used to it and I
think everybody knows it's going to be like that again," Reyna
said. "In California, where you have so many ethnic people from
different countries, when their national team comes to play,
they'll travel for 10 hours for a game because it's their only
chance to watch them play."
Goalkeeper Tony Meola, the starter at the 1990 and '94 World
Cups, thinks the U.S. team still will have lots of support.
"We've been lucky with our fans the last five or six years, as
far as pro-American crowds," he said. "It might be a pro-Iranian
crowd. I'm sure any part of the Iranian population here would want
to see their national team. I'm certain there's a lot of pride in
the people that are from Iran and living in America."
A crowd of about 50,000 is expected at the Rose Bowl for a rematch of the 1998 World Cup game, when Iran shocked the United States 2-1 at Lyon, France. The Americans then lost to Yugoslavia
and finished last in the 32-nation field.
Not all those cheering for Iran will be doing it in that
country's language, and some in the crowd are likely to have the
flags of both nations painted on their cheeks.
"A lot of them will be American-born Iranians, like my kids,"
Reza Ghalambor said. "Most of them don't even speak Farsi."
Whether they're yelling in Farsi or English, Reyna thinks the
crowd will be lively.
"It makes a great atmosphere. It's good for us and it makes the game fun on the field when you have fans that are into it," he said. "And they are going to be into it."
Reyna hopes that spirit will rub off on American fans.
"It shows the passion that these fans have in other parts of
the world and hopefully it makes people here realize how important
soccer is in other countries," he said.
Arena wishes soccer moms and pops would pack their kids into minivans and head to Pasadena.
"California has one of the biggest youth soccer populations in
the country and we'd love to have some of their support," he said.
"The time has come that our country has to get behind our national
team if we're going to be successful. Sunday would be a nice day to
get some of those people out."
| |
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