IRAN: PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD TELLS WORLD CUP TEAM: ‘BRING GLORY TO THE NATION’
Monday Morning, Lebanon
June 12 2006
The Iranian team arrived at their World Cup base at Friedrichshafen,
Germany, under instructions from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to
"bring glory" to their country.
Iranian football supporters braved the rain to welcome their national
side amid expectations of protests about Teheran’s policies.
The German authorities have promised strong police protection for
the Iranian team.
The team were surrounded by children asking for autographs as they
made their way through the terminal before leaving by bus for a luxury
hotel in Schnetzenhausen, a small town northwest of Friedrichsafen
on the shores of Lake Constance, in South Germany.
They had left Teheran optimistic they could create a surprise at the
World Cup, where they were drawn in Group D against Angola, Mexico
and Portugal.
Team Captain Ali Daie said the controversy surrounding the Iranian
president, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map and
has repeatedly denied the Holocaust, had only served to spur on the
squad. The Iranian team contains one surprise — Andranik Teymourian,
an Armenian and the only Christian in the side.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
