USMNT has two unfilled friendly spots for 2018 -- Would Iran take one?

[Paradigm]

Tabatabei. was a solid keeper. better than mirza or nakissa for sure.

That's right, I remember now. There was also Boroumand from the Asian Cup 2000 era. What did those two end up doing? They were the "place fillers" between Abedzadeh and Mirzapour.

[Bagg10]

I heard Israel and KSA have available dates as well

Who???

[Homa]

You do understand that even if IFF had a zillion dollars, if there is no way to transfer these funds to other football federations (ie sanctions on international banking transactions), then they still can't set up friendlies? Lack of funds (cause Iran can't sell it's oil, carpets, pistachios, etc due to sanctions), as well as an inability to send/receive/transfer funds internationally (due to banking sanctions) is taking its toll. Blame who you want, but this round of sanctions is clearly due to Trump and his clown show as Iran was (and still is) playing by the rules they signed up to in JCPOA.

Diz dadash, the banking sanctions nevertheless doesn´t stop IR from sending lots of Money to Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Nigeria etc.
That´s not the reason. You just have to cooperate with a bank not dealing with the US. There are lots of Indian, Chinese and Russian banks providing these service.
They purchased lots of new Airplanes - How did they paid it? With Carpets?

Let´s face it:
The Federation is corrupt and run by incompetent people. It´s easy to blame Trump for everything. But here it´s not his fault.

[RaginG Inferno]

Diz dadash, the banking sanctions nevertheless doesn´t stop IR from sending lots of Money to Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Nigeria etc.

Giving money to non-state actors (which is usually done through illicit cash channels or cash equivalents) isn't something that sanctions target or can realistically prevent.

Rather, sanctions intend to target legitimate business channels.

That´s not the reason. You just have to cooperate with a bank not dealing with the US. There are lots of Indian, Chinese and Russian banks providing these service.

It's not that simple. Currencies are priced by reference to USD. To convert IRR to Indian Rupees, for example, the IRR is first converted into USD, then converted from USD to Indian Rupees. The legs of the exchange involving USD breach banking sanctions.

They purchased lots of new Airplanes - How did they paid it? With Carpets?

That was before the reimposition of sanctions, and the orders and deliveries have now been suspended due to the sanctions.

Let´s face it:
The Federation is corrupt and run by incompetent people. It´s easy to blame Trump for everything. But here it´s not his fault.

Some people in the IFF are incompetent, and some are corrupt. However, sanctions are also an issue.

[diz]

Couldn't have articulated it better myself RaginG. Thank you for your thoughtful response.

[Nokhodi]

That's right, I remember now. There was also Boroumand from the Asian Cup 2000 era. What did those two end up doing? They were the "place fillers" between Abedzadeh and Mirzapour.

Tabatabaei was a good goalie, but his relatively short height for a goalie and his poor handling of crosses and long balls cost him his starting position.
Boroumand was a nuisance in TM camps and had alot of discipline problems.

Both of them lost their spot to Mirzapour when Blazevic took over.

[teammelli91]

The thing is, when you look at wrestling, Americans and Iranians don’t give a shot about politics.

Many Iranian and American wrestlers have spoken against politics interfereing into sports. American wrestlers go to Iran wrestle our boys, chill, then come back.

Now my question is why can’t this be the case with football? Well we all know political climate is bad but it could also be that US Men’s national soccer team fears an opposition like Iran not because of childish political security reasons but rather our team under Calos Queiroz.

We showed the world that we don’t fear any 5 Star team and are more than capable of doing more than what we did in the last World Cup. USA Soccer may not want to risk losing to Iran at this time of crisis. Not to mention our record is 1 Win 1 Draw vs them.

[diz]

The thing is, when you look at wrestling, Americans and Iranians don’t give a shot about politics.

Many Iranian and American wrestlers have spoken against politics interfereing into sports. American wrestlers go to Iran wrestle our boys, chill, then come back.

Now my question is why can’t this be the case with football? Well we all know political climate is bad but it could also be that US Men’s national soccer team fears an opposition like Iran not because of childish political security reasons but rather our team under Calos Queiroz.

We showed the world that we don’t fear any 5 Star team and are more than capable of doing more than what we did in the last World Cup. USA Soccer may not want to risk losing to Iran at this time of crisis. Not to mention our record is 1 Win 1 Draw vs them.

Mostly true, though the last world championship this year in Iowa, USA, Iran did not participate due to a disagreement (I don't recall the reason exactly, but I don't think it was political per se). But the issue of Iranians getting the US visa to visit for the matches is a legitimate one. If the US isn't letting in doctors, PhD students, etc...I'm not sure how successful/easy it will be for sports players to get their visa.

[KC McElroy]

The thing is, when you look at wrestling, Americans and Iranians don’t give a shot about politics.

Many Iranian and American wrestlers have spoken against politics interfereing into sports. American wrestlers go to Iran wrestle our boys, chill, then come back.

Now my question is why can’t this be the case with football? Well we all know political climate is bad but it could also be that US Men’s national soccer team fears an opposition like Iran not because of childish political security reasons but rather our team under Calos Queiroz.

We showed the world that we don’t fear any 5 Star team and are more than capable of doing more than what we did in the last World Cup. USA Soccer may not want to risk losing to Iran at this time of crisis. Not to mention our record is 1 Win 1 Draw vs them.

I doubt it's fear of losing. Their last 2 friendlies were against Brazil and France.

[Paradigm]

Did you guys see Trump talking from the Oval Office today? He had a very small replica of the World Cup trophy behind him. The first time I have noticed such a thing. It probably points to sports diplomacy, if you've ever clued into subliminal hints.

[sarbaz]

and the US will be playing Mexico in liottle less than 2 hrs from now and it will be yet another loss for the americans.

[diz]

and the US will be playing Mexico in liottle less than 2 hrs from now and it will be yet another loss for the americans.

I think they've got it in their heads that they're actually good and need to play the likes of Mexico, France, Brazil etc. This is American exceptionalism at it's finest. It would be best for them to stick with the likes of T&T, St. Kits and Nevis, and other more humble teams, which would actually help inflate their already gigantic egos.

[sarbaz]

I know bro it’s funny
They played Portugal and France before the WC
after the WC they played Brazil and Mexico also too come Columbia,Peru,England and Italy
Wow talk about all the money in the world buying the absolute best friendlies.

And they still suck

[JamB]

USA would give iran a good game. love how people think itll be 5-0....USA average age for these games is like 23 years old. they are giving youth a chance. why are you guys talking shit about usa? lmao just stop

[shahin2000]

and the US will be playing Mexico in liottle less than 2 hrs from now and it will be yet another loss for the americans.

Actually US won 1-0.