Iran's World Cup Story Just Took A HUGE Turn

You know, as much as Donald Trump, Alexi Lawless, who, by the way, is a massive Trump supporter, that Giuliani kid, hydration breaks, and Gianni Infantino try to ruin the World Cup, some good things persevere. Take Iran's national soccer team, who we are currently on and off again threatening to leave without an actual home country to return to. That team flew into Los Angeles this past weekend, played a World Cup match, and flew out the same night. Because, of course, the U.S. that's hosting the World Cup won't let Iran sleep here. And to give you the recap to catch you up, Iran's team, they're playing in the World Cup, but because of Donald Trump's losing war of distraction, that team is not allowed to stay in our country. They're based now across the border in Tijuana, Mexico, and they have to fly into the U.S. the morning of a match, they play, and then they leave that same night. Several of their staff and their officials, they've been denied visas entirely. And we even accused them of trying to sneak a Revolutionary Guard member into Los Angeles, which has been flatly denied. Their own coach called the team, quote, the most oppressed team in the whole World Cup, end quote. And looking at the logistics, it's pretty hard to argue with that. And it's been like this the entire tournament. And when they played, the crowd in Inglewood, they booed their national anthem, which fine, that anthem does represent a government that plenty of the fans in attendance fled. I'm not going to argue that the Islamic Republic of Iran is a shining example of human rights. And yes, some Iranian Americans in the stands protested the players themselves, calling those players puppets of the regime. So you have these players, they're stuck in the middle. They're hated by some of their own people just because they're representing Tehran. They're locked out of their host country because they're from Iran. They're having to get shuttled across international borders like cargo just to kick a ball for 90 minutes in a tournament that's designed to bring us all together. And after their match this past weekend, a scoreless draw with Belgium that kept their knockout stage hopes alive, the Iranian players did something that stopped me cold. Now, I didn't watch the match, but I saw the gesture that happened after. The Iranian players, they left a handwritten note behind in their locker room at the stadium. And I want to read you exactly what it said. Quote, from the ancient Persia thousands of years ago to the civilized Iran of today, the spirit of Iran remains alive and steadfast. We came to Los Angeles with pride, competed with honor, and leave you with dignity. Thank you, Los Angeles, for your hospitality. And thank you to every Iranian who gave their heart, voice, and soul for Iran throughout these 180 minutes talking about the two games they played. Finishing with may peace, respect, and friendship prevail among all nations with the hashtags 168 and Manab. Peace, respect, and friendship among all nations. Written by athletes from the country that we are bombing for no apparent reason. And they left behind in an American locker room as a thank you note. There is humanity everywhere we look. And as for those hashtags throughout their time in the U.S., the Iranian players, they wore at various times a small badge usually on their suit with the number 168. That number is the count of the dead from a strike on a school in the Iranian town of Manab earlier this war. 168 people, most of them schoolgirls. And Donald Trump, by the way, has said no one's going to face any consequences for the U.S. hitting that school. So these men flew into the very country responsible for bombing a school, played 90 minutes of soccer, and instead of rage, instead of a statement aimed at our country, they left a note asking for peace. And they carried the memory of those children with them into the stadium. That is a grace that most of us couldn't summon on our best day, let alone on our worst. And I want you to contrast that because at the exact same time that those players were writing may peace prevail among all nations, Donald Trump was on Fox News telling Iran you won't even make it back to your country. While his favorite Senator Lindsey Graham was on Sunday television promising we would obliterate them. It tells you a whole lot about people's character, doesn't it? And now again, I want to make this very clear. I am not naive about the Iranian government. They are a brutal regime. And these same players have faced impossible pressure from their own leaders back home who've spent years using their sports team as a propaganda prop. It is sports washing at its finest. But there is a point here. The people are not the regime. The kids at that school were not the regime. And a team that has every reason on earth to hate America flew into our country and chose, despite all of the setbacks, on a piece of paper to be bigger than the men running their government and ours. And by the way, their next match, it's historic. They're going to play Egypt next. And if they win that game, Iran could reach the knockout stage of a World Cup for the first time in their history on their seventh trip to the dating back to 1978. And they are facing an Egyptian team captained by the great Mohamed Salah, an all-timer. And they've got their own first trip to the knockout stage on the line. And aside from that, the game is going to be Seattle's pride match. And the two teams there have horrendous human rights records when it comes to the LGBTQ plus community. And they're playing the game in a country that's on its way to a similar path. This is going to be historic. And whatever happens on that field during that game, and by the way, the scoreline from the last weekend, it was nil-nil. Whatever happens, the note is going to be the biggest thing that anyone remembers from Iran. Because every so often, in the middle of all the noise and all the threats and all of the men measuring waterways, someone picks up a pen and quietly reminds you that the rest of us are supposed to be aiming for peace. Do me a favor, subscribe and keep watching with us, because the stories that actually matter are almost never the ones with the loudest headlines. Oh, and by the way, seeing all these posts of the King of Highbury, Titi, Thierry Henry, along with Zlatan, absolutely clowning that MAGA dork known as Alexi Lawless is pure gold. In fact, that's the only thing, only, that would bring me back to watching the World Cup coverage. Still not, though.