Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz has raised tensions before the crucial Group B fixture between his side and the USA on Tuesday, addressing criticism of the Iranian regime by drawing parallels with American school shootings.
Queiroz's latest controversial intervention relates to a row over a tweet by the US Soccer Federation which appeared to have deliberately doctored the Iranian flag.
The USA's social media post removed the symbol of the Islamic Republic from the flag. Iran even called for the US to be banned from the World Cup.
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USMNT's head coach Gregg Berhalter issued an apology for the tweet. Berhalter insisted that his players and staff had no idea that his US Soccer bosses had taken a decision to post a doctored image.
"The players and staff had no idea what US Soccer has put out - and sometimes these things are out of your control," he said in his pre-match press conference, as cited by our colleagues at the Mirror. "We can only apologise on behalf of the players and staff. Our thoughts are with the Iranian people - but we must be totally focused on this match."
That could've been the end of it, but Queiroz has since made matters worse. As per the Guardian, he said: "We have said many times that we have solidarity of all humanitarian causes.
"But we have solidarity with causes all over the world whoever they are. If you talk human rights, racism, kids dying at schools from shooting, we have solidarity with all. But we bring a smile for 90 minutes, that is our mission."
Queiroz went on to defend his team and their actions: "I always work and always believe in my life that a football team must be based on the work ethics and principles of what a team is.
"[I want] to create a code of conduct that can make players believe every single morning they wake up that they need to be better, to beat what they were the day before. The only thing I care to talk about is the team as a unit, cohesion and being as a family."
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