In a press conference that at times resembled a diplomatic high-wire act, Iran’s captain, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, accused the English media of setting out to destabilise his team by asking questions about the protests raging back home.
Jahanbakhsh also appeared to insinuate that the press was playing such “mental games” as part of a broader English campaign to undermine Iran before the teams meet in their World Cup opener on Monday.
