Uruguay

Kicking, spitting, punching - Iran up in arms over alleged treatment dished out by Uruguay on and off the pitch

Iran's Carlsberg Cup squad departed Hong Kong yesterday complaining bitterly about the physical treatment they suffered while losing Tuesday's brutal final to Uruguay.
The Asian Games champions were beaten in a penalty shootout after extra-time in a game which featured two red cards, two brawls - one of them between a Uruguayan player and his coach in the lull before the spot-kicks - and an endless stream of violent tackles and off-the-ball clashes.

The problems didn't finish at the stadium. Back at the teams' Royal Garden hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, Uruguayan sweeper Diego Lugano did a remarkable job of traversing the language barrier to explain to some of the players that he was ready to fight Iranian wing-back Alireza Vahedinikbakht, even setting the time and place - outside, 2am.

The Esteghlal player had been the victim in the incident that marked the games' biggest flashpoint, a vicious kick by Uruguayan substitute Horacio Peralta in the 89th minute that brought both benches and stadium security staff on to the pitch for a prolonged bout of pushing, shoving, and in the case of Uruguayan midfielder Marcelo Sosa, who had been replaced 20 minutes earlier, punching.

"He [Peralta] did a scissors kick with my head," said a disgusted Vahedinikbakht. "Then they grabbed the referee's shirt and told him to be quiet. The number two [Lugano] came and spat in my face at one point, and then he sent me a message in the hotel to come out and fight. They were beyond dirty."

Meanwhile, Iranian centre-half Mohammad Nosrati complained that he was attacked outside the changing rooms before the start of the second period.

"During half-time in the tunnel the number 21 [Peralta) attacked me and punched me," alleged the Pas defender, adding that if the trip was meant to educate Iran's younger players about football in different parts of the world it worked.

"For that, it was a very good experience. In Iran, we used to hear that the South Americans - teams like Argentina and Uruguay - were very rough. Now we know it's true."

The president of the Iranian Football Federation, Dr Mohammad Dadgan, meanwhile, was determined to show the six-inch long stud marks left on and above the knee of teenage defender Hossein Kabei when the Uruguayan captain Martin Liguera fouled him in the opening minutes of the match.

"You win some and you lose some - we're not upset about the result, just the violence," said the 18-year-old Kabei. "Soccer has everything, but it shouldn't have this sort of behaviour and this sort of confrontation.

"I knew they would be rough, but I didn't expect them to be that rough and violent. It wasn't football. Every five minutes they would fight someone. I've never been involved in a match like that before. I've played a lot of football, but not this kind of football."

Uruguay coach Gustavo Ferrin would not be drawn on the Iranians' many grievances, saying only: "We disagreed with the referee. We had some differences during the game."

The Iranians are not going to be joining Danish captain Morten Wieghorst in collecting any kind of Fair Play award for their role in the trouble. While most of the players accepted that Iran were not completely innocent, most argued that as Hong Kong referee Fong Yau-fat lost control of the match, they had to stick up for each other.

"We didn't sit aside," conceded Nosrati. "We had to defend ourselves. You could see in the first five minutes that they were after us."

Insisted Kabei: "Iran were not at fault. When they are being so rough and violent you can't roll over. We had to defend ourselves."

Iran captain Yahya Golmohammadi, who barely disguised his disgust on the pitch with Mohsen Bayatiniya after the Iran substitute received his second yellow card with five minutes remaining, admitted afterwards that their young team didn't know how to cope with the Uruguayans.

"We didn't have enough experience for this kind of team," he said. "Especially when they started playing rough and hurting our players."

It seems unlikely IFF will make any formal protest about the incidents. Dadgan felt it was Uruguay's reputation that had suffered the most.

"It's a pity," he said. "Uruguay have a fine tradition in world football. But they must understand that it is possible for a team like Iran to beat them and that doesn't mean they have to respond with these tactics just because they think they are in danger of losing."