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Hong Kong - Iran up in arms over alleged
treatment dished out by Uruguay on and off the pitch
Iran's Carlsberg Cup squad departed Hong Kong yesterday complaining bitterly
about the physical treatment they suffered while losing Tuesday's brutal
final to Uruguay.
The Asian Games champions were beaten in a penalty shootout after extra-time
in a game which featured two red cards, two brawls - one of them between a
Uruguayan player and his coach in the lull before the spot-kicks - and an
endless stream of violent tackles and off-the-ball clashes.
The problems didn't finish at the stadium. Back at the teams' Royal Garden
hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, Uruguayan sweeper Diego Lugano did a remarkable job
of traversing the language barrier to explain to some of the players that he
was ready to fight Iranian wing-back Alireza Vahedinikbakht, even setting
the time and place - outside, 2am.
The Esteghlal player had been the victim in the incident that marked the
games' biggest flashpoint, a vicious kick by Uruguayan substitute Horacio
Peralta in the 89th minute that brought both benches and stadium security
staff on to the pitch for a prolonged bout of pushing, shoving, and in the
case of Uruguayan midfielder Marcelo Sosa, who had been replaced 20 minutes
earlier, punching.
"He [Peralta] did a scissors kick with my head," said a disgusted
Vahedinikbakht. "Then they grabbed the referee's shirt and told him to be
quiet. The number two [Lugano] came and spat in my face at one point, and
then he sent me a message in the hotel to come out and fight. They were
beyond dirty."
Meanwhile, Iranian centre-half Mohammad Nosrati complained that he was
attacked outside the changing rooms before the start of the second period.
"During half-time in the tunnel the number 21 [Peralta) attacked me and
punched me," alleged the Pas defender, adding that if the trip was meant to
educate Iran's younger players about football in different parts of the
world it worked.
"For that, it was a very good experience. In Iran, we used to hear that the
South Americans - teams like Argentina and Uruguay - were very rough. Now we
know it's true."
The president of the Iranian Football Federation, Dr Mohammad Dadgan,
meanwhile, was determined to show the six-inch long stud marks left on and
above the knee of teenage defender Hossein Kabei when the Uruguayan captain
Martin Liguera fouled him in the opening minutes of the match.
"You win some and you lose some - we're not upset about the result, just the
violence," said the 18-year-old Kabei. "Soccer has everything, but it
shouldn't have this sort of behaviour and this sort of confrontation.
"I knew they would be rough, but I didn't expect them to be that rough and
violent. It wasn't football. Every five minutes they would fight someone.
I've never been involved in a match like that before. I've played a lot of
football, but not this kind of football."
Uruguay coach Gustavo Ferrin would not be drawn on the Iranians' many
grievances, saying only: "We disagreed with the referee. We had some
differences during the game."
The Iranians are not going to be joining Danish captain Morten Wieghorst in
collecting any kind of Fair Play award for their role in the trouble. While
most of the players accepted that Iran were not completely innocent, most
argued that as Hong Kong referee Fong Yau-fat lost control of the match,
they had to stick up for each other.
"We didn't sit aside," conceded Nosrati. "We had to defend ourselves. You
could see in the first five minutes that they were after us."
Insisted Kabei: "Iran were not at fault. When they are being so rough and
violent you can't roll over. We had to defend ourselves."
Iran captain Yahya Golmohammadi, who barely disguised his disgust on the
pitch with Mohsen Bayatiniya after the Iran substitute received his second
yellow card with five minutes remaining, admitted afterwards that their
young team didn't know how to cope with the Uruguayans.
"We didn't have enough experience for this kind of team," he said.
"Especially when they started playing rough and hurting our players."
It seems unlikely IFF will make any formal protest about the incidents.
Dadgan felt it was Uruguay's reputation that had suffered the most.
"It's a pity," he said. "Uruguay have a fine tradition in world football.
But they must understand that it is possible for a team like Iran to beat
them and that doesn't mean they have to respond with these tactics just
because they think they are in danger of losing."
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