‘This must never happen again’: Iran coach hits out at the US and tells Infantino to stand up against hosts

Iran’s head coach, Amir Ghalenoei, has said Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino , must “stand up” to the US after reiterating his belief that the co-hosts have treated his team “very unfairly”. Iran will qualify for the World Cup knockout stage for the first time if results go their way in the next 24 hours, but after a dramatic draw against Egypt in Seattle, in which Shoja Khalilzadeh had a stoppage-time winner ruled offside and Saeid Ezatolah headed against the crossbar, they were left frustrated with more than just the result. Infantino visited Iran’s dressing room after their Group G opener against New Zealand , telling the squad “you are stronger than everything”, but while Ghalenoei maintains Infantino has tried his utmost to help them, ultimately little has changed since the tournament began. The head coach previously described Iran as the “most oppressed” team at the World Cup. “I know Mr Infantino has tried his best to minimise the problems as much as possible but it was the host that wasn’t very good to us,” Ghalenoei said in his post-match press conference. “I urge Fifa to not let the hosts treat teams and players the same way in the future. I hope Mr Infantino will actually stand up to such behaviour.” Iran’s captain, Mehdi Taremi, criticised Fifa’s handling of the situation and referenced the 11 senior officials who were denied entry to the United States. “Since the beginning, it’s a disaster World Cup . …