United States strikes a blow for humanity in World Cup win over Iran

There are must-wins, and there are must-wins.

The U.S. men’s national team needed a win to advance to the knockout round at the World Cup.

The U.S. men’s national team needed a win to advance the agenda of freedom, and of decency, and of the rights of women around the world.

The United States beat Iran, 1-0, in Doha, Qatar, and eliminated the Iranians from the tournament.

Humanity won. Freedom won. Women won.

For a moment, sports sanctified the memory of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was killed in September while in the custody of Iran’s “morality police” after they arrested her for not wearing her hijab. Her family said they beat her to death with several blows to the head.

Her death sparked the most virulent protests in Iran since the Iranian Revolution more than four decades ago. They continue today.

Iranian officials admit that more than 300 have died in the protests, but human-rights groups say the number is closer to 500, as government troops fire into peaceful crowds or gun down fleeing protesters. At least four Iranians have been sentenced to death for their parts in the protests.

And so, in one of the most politically charged international sports contests in U.S. history, the side of good prevailed. The Americans won in the name of decency. They won in the name of humanity.

“The team’s loss — which undoubtedly would be difficult for Iranian soccer fans to digest — could be construed as the defeat of a moribund regime.”

This was part of a written response Tuesday from Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, the Walter A. Annenberg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert on Iranian-American relations.

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Make no mistake: This was a battle between right and wrong. Between good and evil.

It was just a game, but even so, it felt like a step away from darkness, and a step toward light.

“The global movement in support of women’s rights, democracy, and human rights — inspired by Iranian protestors and encapsulated by the mantra, ‘Women. Life. Freedom.’ — is far more urgent, pivotal and consequential than any soccer match or sporting event,” Kashani-Sabet continued.

Christian Pulisic, whose given name drives to the heart of the countries’ differences, drove through Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand to give the U.S. the only tally, in the 38th minute. Pulisic is from Hershey, Pa., home of the Hershey bar, a wartime staple for decades. On the play, Pulisic took Beiranvand’s knee to the upper portion of his groin. He writhed on the turf, his body still inside the goal, for several minutes.

He needed three more minutes to recover on the sideline. He did return for the rest of the first half, but the 24-year-old did not emerge from the locker room after halftime as Medford’s Brenden Aaronson replaced him.

The entire sequence dripped with symbolism.

So did the run-up.

Earlier in the tournament, the U.S. Soccer Federation posted on its social media accounts for 24 hours an altered image of the Iranian flag without its national emblem, which is a stylized representation of the word “Allah.” The federation posted the image, it said, to show “support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights.”

Iranian state media demanded for the U.S. to be ejected from the tournament and suspended 10 games for breaching FIFA rules concerning countries showing respect for each other’s national representations.

FIFA ignored that demand.

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Significantly, the flag was adopted in 1980, after the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and during the Iran hostage crisis, which lasted 444 days from November 1979 to January 1981.

In a pre-match press conference, Iranian media upbraided U.S. captain Tyler Adams for mispronouncing “Iran” (he apologized), then peppered him with observations of America’s controversial immigration policies and racism problems. Adams, who is Black, handled the assault with grace beyond most 23-year-olds.

Then he led the U.S. to victories, both sporting and moral.

Human rights are basic. Immutable. This is why theocracies are, by definition, immoral. It is fascism, wrapped in superstition and dogma, and it always leads to oppression, and death.

There should be a lesson to anyone — including Americans — who believe the ruling from a pulpit or ruling from a shrine produces anything more than the worst intents of man.

» READ MORE: Christian Pulisic suffered a ‘pelvic contusion’ in the USMNT’s World Cup win over Iran

This wasn’t about the Iranian men playing soccer. It was about their government. In fact, in support of protesters back home, several Iran players refused to sing their national anthem before their opening World Cup match on Nov. 21.

None of this will change things in Iran, or in Qatar, or in Saudi Arabia, or, tangentially, in communist China. It won’t mean much of anything at all when you look at the biggest picture.

U.S.-Iran relations have been tenuous, or worse, since the Iranian Revolution 43 years ago made the former allies bitter enemies. The enmity goes far beyond the field.

The U.S. has encouraged the protesters. Iran has accused America of undermining its sovereignty. The multi-nation 2015 nuclear deal, which former President Donald Trump scuttled in 2018, was rejuvenated last year by President Joe Biden. Soccer will neither doom it nor speed it up.

“Very little of what happens in today’s match will affect, for instance, Biden’s support for Iranian protesters, Iranian refusals to return to the nuclear deal, or the high levels of militarization in the Persian Gulf,” said Sean Yom, an associate professor of political science at Temple University and an expert on Middle East authoritarian regimes. “But it will give voices on each side some rhetorical weapons to use for their one-upmanship for a few days.”

The professor, of course, is right. We know this in our minds.

But in our hearts, this feels like more than one-upmanship.

This feels like a defeat for Mordor. A loss for Voldemort. A setback for the dark side.

It is none of those things.

Iran’s not going to stop killing protesters because Christian Pulisic scored a heroic goal.

But if you believe in human rights, and if you oppose oppression, then it surely should mean something to you.