‘I’d make it more political’: when USA lost to Iran at the World Cup in 1998

29-Nov-2022 11:24:30 | The Guardian

USA manager Steve Sampson and player Alexi Lalas recall ‘the mother of all games’ – and how they would do it differently now

Steve Sampson feels hoodwinked. The USA boss played down any rivalry with Iran before the teams met at the World Cup but, looking back on his team’s 2-1 defeat more than two decades on, he believes he was too diplomatic.

With the two teams going head-to-head at the finals again this week to decide which of them makes it out of their group, memories are naturally going back to a contest whose impact reached much further than sport. And Sampson knows where USA lost it.