\u201cWe deserved to go further, but they really made the task more complicated for us,\u201d says Ramin Rezaeian
\n TEHRAN
\nIran\u2019s disappointed World Cup squad returned to a much warmer welcome at Tehran airport on Wednesday than they experienced on arrival in the US for their three group games.
\n\u201cIran, Iran!\u201d a crowd of several hundred children, their parents and devoted fans chanted in unison.
\nSome waved the Iranian national flag while others sported bracelets with the national colours or wore the jersey of \u201cTeam Melli\u201d as they feted the squad who had gone so close to reaching the knockout stages for the first time.
\nThey finished third in the group, having drawn all three of their matches, but missed out as one of the eight best third-placed sides on goal difference.
\nThe fervour reached fever-pitch when it was announced their flight from Turkiye \u2014 they had flown there first from Mexico, where they had been based during the tournament \u2014 had landed.
\nAs the players descended from the aircraft they were also serenaded by musicians in military uniform playing the national anthem.
\nA lot of supporters brandished photographs of goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, who became a national hero for his performance in the scoreless draw with Belgium.
\n\u201cWe apologise in front of you, for failing to qualify and to bring you happiness,\u201d a contrite Beiranvand told the fans on arriving at Mehrabad airport.
\nHis teammate, defender Ramin Rezaeian voiced a common complaint amongst the Iranian World Cup entourage that but for US immigration restrictions they would have made history.
\n\u201cWe deserved to go further, but they really made the task more complicated for us,\u201d he said.
\nThe sentiment was shared by fan Mona Banisafa, who was among the crowd that turned out to welcome the team home.
\n\u201cThe national team players tried their best, but it didn\u2019t work out. We came to thank them,\u201d the 42-year-old said.
\n\u201cOne hundred percent, if the conditions had been a little better, they would have definitely achieved a better result.\u201d
\n\u2018Our football deserves better\u2019
\nThe Iranian team had gone through a rollercoaster of emotions in the final phase of group matches.
\nFirst they thought they had grabbed a late winner against Egypt \u2014 and automatic qualification \u2014 but their celebrations were cut short after VAR deemed there was offside.
\nHaving finished third in their group they had to wait to see if they made the eight best in that category and proceed for the first time in their history to the knockout stages.
\nIt looked to be on when Algeria scored to take the lead in time added on against Austria in their Group J match.
\nHowever, the Austrians dashed their dreams by equalising six minutes into time added on.
\nSenegal took the eighth and final spot because of their superior goal difference \u2014 plus two to zero.
\nIran\u2019s tournament was overshadowed from the start by the ongoing war between the country and the United States and Israel.
\nThey moved their World Cup base camp from Tucson, Arizona to Tijuana after a dozen of their staff members had their US visas denied.
\nIran still played all their matches in the United States but were unhappy at travel restrictions placed on them by American authorities.
\nThat included not being allowed to arrive in the US two days before their matches.
\nThey were allowed to do that before their final game against Egypt, but still had to return to Mexico straight after.
\nStudent Nima Naseri, who also turned up at the airport on Wednesday, said that the team was \u201creally beloved\u201d, but couldn\u2019t help but express some misgivings about the result.
\n\u201cThey were relatively good, but our football deserves better… We deserve to advance atop the group,\u201d the 19-year-old said.
\n\u201cThe conditions of course played their part, but we could have benefitted from younger players.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWe deserved to go further, but they really made the task more complicated for us,\u201d says Ramin Rezaeian TEHRAN Iran\u2019s disappointed World Cup squad returned to a much warmer welcome at Tehran airport on Wednesday than they experienced on arrival in the US for their three group games. \u201cIran, Iran!\u201d a crowd of several hundred […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554229,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-554217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n