“I just try to be a good person because if everyone had that mindset then, yeah, you’d have world peace,” Antonee Robinson says as he remembers his reaction when he comforted Ramin Rezaeian a few minutes after the USA had knocked Iran out of the World Cup last November. The heartfelt embrace between two defenders from very different countries went viral as Robinson consoled and hugged a sobbing Rezaeian for a long time.
In a setting as divisive and discriminatory as Qatar, Robinson’s warmth and humanity not only helped Rezaeian but turned the vitriolic world of social media into a briefly unified haven. His empathy was striking because, before their opening game against England, Rezaeian and his teammates had refused to sing the national anthem in protest against state oppression and violence towards women in Iran.
