The United States prevailed over Iran Tuesday in a World Cup soccer game dressed up as a morality play.
It is Iran that routinely labels the U.S. “The Great Satan” in foreign policy statements. It is Iran that gets a steady stream of criticism from the world and, of late, from internal demonstrations, regarding poor human rights policies.
Just in the leadup to this game, Iran was angered by a U.S. Soccer post that omitted the emblem of the Islamic Republic from that nation’s flag. And, during a press conference ahead of the game, members of Iranian state media badgered U.S. interview subjects about immigration, racism and inflation.
Lest Iran protest, let me clarify that the U.S. beat a team from the Islamic Republic of Iran, an official name that takes full advantage of poetic license in the use of the term republic. The Authoritarian Theocracy of Iran would be more accurate.
Against that backdrop, it was supremely ironic that the winning – and lone – goal for the U.S. was scored by CHRISTIAN Pulisic, taking down the ISLAMIC Republic of Iran, 1-0.
The U.S. moves on to the round of 16, there to face the Netherlands in a knockout game early Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Iranian team heads home. Considering the punishment back there, where a woman can be slain for not wearing a head covering in public, as happened just this past September (2022, not 1522), this might have been, literally, a do-or-die game for Iran’s players.
No doubt Iran will whine about the lack of a late call in the penalty box, alleging a foul and resulting penalty shot should have been whistled by the referee.
A tie would have advanced Iran in the tournament, so a potential goal there would have been enough to get the job done.
As with most sporting contests, the beauty – or lack thereof – regarding this game was in the eye of the beholder.
U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter was bubbly in his postgame interview and eagerly pointed out his team remains “undefeated.”
While factually correct, it also oversells the reality. The U.S. had scored one goal in two previous games, both ties. The first example was a come-from-ahead tie with Wales, which exited the tournament with a single point, from that tie.
The U.S. also gained a 0-0 tie vs. England, ranked No. 5 in the world, in what was a lethargic effort by both sides.
So, at 1-0-2, the United States is undefeated, but not overly impressive. Two goals in three games is modest. Blowing a 1-0 lead vs. Wales by playing extremely passively in the second half, was disappointing.
This win has been heralded for advancing the U.S. to the 16-team knockout round. As forward Tim Weah observed in a postgame interview, it’s more of “us against the world” because, as he elaborated, no one believes the U.S. can play good soccer.
When you are ranked No. 16 in the world, and advance to the final 16 of the World Cup, that falls more under the category of modest victory, not proof of greatness.
Advancing in knockout play, beginning by beating No. 8 Netherlands, would give something for Weah and Berhalter to crow about.
But all is not sweetness and light regarding Pulisic, the talented forward who hails from Hershey, Pa., Chocolate Town. He was injured while scoring the goal and subsequently crashing into the Iranian goalie. It was reported Pulisic went to a hospital after the game with an abdominal injury.
Considering Pulisic has scored one of the two total U.S. goals in this Cup, and assisted on the other, his presence would seem to be necessary for his team to have any chance against Netherlands.
The U.S. won this game in survival mode, playing what studio analyst and former U.S. men’s team player Alexi Lalas labeled as “shaky” at the end.
That won’t cut it vs. Netherlands. Also, it’s unlikely a single goal will be enough to prevail.
This World Cup experience is likely to end soon for the U.S. men, but, to paraphrase the classic closing line from the movie Casablanca, “We’ll always have Iran (not Paris).”
Sam Ross Jr's site 