Thursday
January 20, 2000
Together
THEY CAME UNDER MANY DIFFERENT FLAGS, NEW AND OLD ["ROSY
SUNDAY"]. THEY CAME WITH MANY BELIEFS, SOME PRO-ISLAMIC, OTHERS
OPPOSING THE CURRENT REGIME. SEPARATELY, THEY COULD HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED
DIFFERENT IN SO MANY WAYS, BUT TOGETHER, THEY WORE RED, WHITE, AND GREEN,
AND TOGETHER, THEY CHEERED AS ONE.
FOR NINETY MINUTES, IRANIANS FROM ALL CORNERS OF THE WORLD GATHERED
TOGETHER AT THE ROSE BOWL IN PASADENA TO CHEER FOR THEIR SOCCER TEAM.
NO MATTER WHO THEY WERE, OR WHAT THEY BELIEVED IN, THEY DANCED TOGETHER,
JUMPED UP AND DOWN TOGETHER, AND APPLAUDED THEIR "BACHEHAA" TOGETHER.
SOME HAD BEEN SEPARATED FROM THEIR HOMELAND FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS, AND
IT WAS BEAUTIFUL AS THEY STOOD AND YELLED FOR THE SAME NOBLE CAUSE,"ALI
DAEI, ALI DAEI, AZIZI, AZIZI!"
THE IRANIAN SOCCER PLAYERS WERE AWESTRUCK AS THEY STEPPED OUT ONTO THE
FIELD. THE MAP MAY HAVE SAID PASADENA, BUT INSIDE THE STADIUM, IT WAS
TEHRANGELES! THE ONLY COLORS TO BE SEEN WERE THOSE OF THE IRANIAN FLAG
AND THE ONLY CHEERS TO BE HEARD WERE IN FARSI. WATCHING THEIR FACES ON
THE BIG-SCREEN TELEVISIONS BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES BECAUSE I COULD SEE
THAT THE COLORS OF OUR COUNTRY WERE BURNED THROUGH THEIR HEARTS. LOOKING
INTO THOSE HANDSOME FACES, I COULD BE SURE THAT THEY WANTED TO WIN THIS
GAME FOR US JUST AS MUCH AS WE WANTED THEM TO WIN IT FOR OUR COUNTRY.
FROM THE STARTING WHISTLE, I SENSED THE PASSION IN THEM, AND SEVEN MINUTES
INTO HE GAME, THE CROWD BURST INTO JOY THAT HAD BEEN HELD INSIDE OF SOME
FOR NEARLY TWENTY YEARS. KHODADAD AZIZI, OUR GIFT FROM GOD, PASSED TO
THE HANDSOME MAHDAVI-KIA AND THE IRANIAN NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM ENJOYED ITS
THIRD GOAL IN HISTORY AGAINST THE UNITED STATES. ALTHOUGH THE U.S. ALSO
SCORED A GOAL TO END THE GAME WITH A 1-1 TIE, WE ALL LEFT THE STADIUM KNOWING
THAT IRAN HAD WON IN MANY WAYS THAT WOULD ONE DAY BE RECORDED IN HISTORY
BOOKS.
AFTER THE GAME THAT NIGHT IN THE HILTON HOTEL, WHERE THE PLAYERS WERE
STAYING, I HEARD ALI DAEI SAY SOMETHING I WILL NEVER FORGET," WE ARE
NOT IMPORTANT. WE ARE NOTHING. THEY LOVE US BECAUSE OF WHAT WE REPRESENT.
IRAN!!"
IT IS OUR LOVE FOR IRAN THAT HAS DRAWN US SO DEEPLY INTO THE LOVE OF
THE BEAUTIFUL GAME, BUT WE WILL NEVER FORGET WHO BROUGHT US TO WHERE WE
ARE TODAY....ALI DAEI. AND AZIZI, AND MAHDAVI-KIA, AND ESTILI ARE NAMES
WE WILL NEVER FORGET, AND ONE DAY, THE WAY MY FATHER TELLS ME ABOUT NASER
HEJAZI, I WILL TELL MY CHILDREN ABOUT THE BRAVE MEN WHO SHOWED THE WORLD
THAT IRAN WAS STILL ALIVE AND AND FOREVER KICKING IN THE HEARTS OF ITS
PEOPLE!
BACHEHA, BARAYE HAMISHEH MOTCHAKERIM!
ASSAL BADRKHANI
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