Iranian women futsal team lost their 3rd game

Iranian women futsal team suffered their third defeat in 2015 Women’s Futsal World Tournament in Guatemala.

Iran’s 2-1 defeat against Costa Rica meant that they could not advance from the group stage of the tournament. Iran lost its first match against Portugal 3-1, and its second match against the world champion Brazil 6-0. They will have to play against the team at the bottom of Group B, most probably Japan, tomorrow night.

Despite the defeat many Iranians are proud of their women futsal team, who became Asian champions last September. Iranian football officials refused to send the team to the tournament, saying that there was not enough time to obtain visas for Guatemala. The team managed to take part in the games only after President Hassan Rouhani gave Iranian football authorities a direct order to do their best to send the team to Guatemala.

The Iranian team had to travel for 85 hours to reach Guatemala from Iran. A trip that can be done in less than 30 hours. Iran’s coach, Foroozan Soleimani, blamed the poor result of the first match players’ tiredness after a long trip. No official has commented why the team had to travel for 85 hours to reach Guatemala City from Tehran.

In future articles IranWire will explore the behind the scenes story of Iran’s football team further.