DOHA, Qatar — When Ramin Rezaeian scored his first World Cup goal to seal Iran's victory over Wales last week — just the country's second tournament win in 24 years — it should have been a moment of pure joy.
Yet Rezaeian tweeted afterward that he didn't know "whether to laugh or cry" — feeling trapped along with his teammates between a government that views their success as a propaganda tool and Iranian protesters mounting the most dangerous challenge to the country's theocratic rulers in four decades.
Those conflicting emotions could become even more complicated Tuesday when Iran meets the U.S. in a game that will determine which team moves on in soccer's premier tournament and which goes home.
