Iran’s national football team walked out of their hotel in Tijuana to cheers on Wednesday, with Mexican supporters hoping to lift the spirits of a side whose World Cup campaign has been partly overshadowed by war.
“Vamos Iran! Vamos Iran!” chanted around 30 fans, who asked Iranian footballers for autographs as though they were supporting their own national team.
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Jose Leyva, a 28-year-old pizzeria worker, waited several hours by the fence to get a signature from Mehdi Taremi, Iran’s star striker.
“I feel bad for them,” Leyva told AFP. “In my view, politics shouldn’t be mixed with sports.”
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