Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nGhana\u2019s veteran coach Carlos Queiroz told reporters in Toronto that his side would be ready, regardless of the court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not necessary to make comments. The story is open,\u201d said Queiroz, a Portuguese national born in Mozambique.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy business is to play with the cards that I have in front of me. We are waiting for a decision. When the decision (comes), we are ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ghanaian Foreign Minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa has called Canada\u2019s decision \u201chigh-handed and extremely unfair,\u201d describing Partey as \u201ca key member of Ghana\u2019s senior national team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Accra has sent an official \u201cnote of protest\u201d to Ottawa over the move and formally asked Canada to review the decision, Ablakwa said.<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s foreign ministry has not responded to a query regarding its response to Ghana\u2019s protest.<\/p>\n
Queiroz declined to comment on how the absence of Partey, who previously played for Arsenal, could impact his side.<\/p>\n
IRAN ORDERED TO LEAVE US EARLY<\/b><\/p>\n
On Monday, coach Amir Ghalenoei complained that Iran was the \u201cmost oppressed team in the World Cup\u201d after his players were suddenly informed they must travel back to Mexico immediately after their opening game ended.<\/p>\n
According to Ghalenoei, Iran was originally slated to spend the night in Los Angeles following its World Cup opener. <\/p>\n
He did not say who ordered the team\u2019s departure from the US.<\/p>\n
A plan to station the Iran team in Arizona was scrubbed at the 11th hour, with a new base camp being established in Tijuana, Mexico instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey delayed our arrivals, (now) they are forcing us to go back early without time for recovery,\u201d Ghalenoei told journalists.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are making the situation more and more difficult, facing us with more hurdles, but we\u2019re not going to let that stop us from doing our best.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t even give us time to recover. After the game today, they said to us, \u2018You have to leave immediately.\u2019 It\u2019s very important for us to have time for recovery, (but) we are asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201cWe don\u2019t know why they are returning us, to be honest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us. The decision-making for us is being made elsewhere. We were supposed to come two nights before the game, and we were supposed to stay tonight to recover and return tomorrow at lunchtime. We have no idea why.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our team is perhaps the most oppressed in the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iran captain Mehdi Taremi added: \u201cEverything is like a disaster actually for us\u2026 still we have some problems because we are supposed to be training tomorrow morning \u2013 recovery \u2013 then leave for Tijuana.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we have to leave Los Angeles right now, and it\u2019s not good for us. It\u2019s not good for the football, because in World Cup, you have to prepare good for the next game.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it is a lot of stress for the players and the staff and everyone. But we don\u2019t have that support and I think FIFA have to help us more than this.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei. AP Photo\/Mark J. Terrill<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIranian forward Mehdi Torabi has received a visa for the United States that will allow him to play the rest of the tournament there, a team official said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Torabi, who sat on the bench in the squad\u2019s opening 2-2 draw with New Zealand, had originally only been granted permission to enter the country once, setting the team scrambling to find a solution that would allow him to return to face Belgium on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing efforts by the Football Federation and coordination with FIFA, the player was issued a new multiple-entry visa today,\u201d a team official said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this visa now secured, Torabi will have no issues accompanying Iran\u2019s national team in its upcoming matches and will be available to travel with the squad throughout the remainder of the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s final group game is against Egypt in Seattle on June 26. The visa issue was the latest complication for the Iranian team in the run up to the World Cup.<\/p>\n
Team Melli\u2019s participation had been in doubt since the United States and Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran in late February.<\/p>\n
Tehran hit back at US allies in the region, targeting infrastructure and closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which 20 percent of the world\u2019s oil passes.<\/p>\n
US officials denied visas entirely for more than a dozen support staff, meaning they could not travel to the games.<\/p>\n
NEYMAR NEARS RETURN FROM INJURY<\/b><\/p>\n
Brazil forward Neymar, who was diagnosed with a right calf injury in late May, trained at the World Cup for the first time Tuesday in a sign he may be nearing a return.<\/p>\n
The 34-year-old has been undergoing treatment since the squad\u2019s arrival in the United States, but took another step in his recovery process as he was out running at Brazil\u2019s training base in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
Brazil\u2019s all-time record scorer has yet to return to full training after missing the team\u2019s opening 1-1 draw against Morocco on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Neymar has been an integral part of Brazil\u2019s last three World Cup campaigns but there was some surprise at his inclusion this time as injuries have prevented him from playing for his country at all since 2023.<\/p>\n
He has featured in just half of his club\u2019s games in the Brazilian league, cup and Copa Sudamericana this year due to various fitness issues.<\/p>\n
Brazil\u2019s next game is against Haiti in Philadelphia on Friday. They face Scotland in their final Group C game in Miami on June 24.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Neymar Jr of Brazil.<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nSource link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ghana has asked a Canadian court to overturn Ottawa\u2019s decision to ban footballer Thomas Partey, a day before the Ghanaian side\u2019s World Cup opener in Toronto. Partey, a Villarreal midfielder, is facing seven charges of rape and one count of sexual assault in Britain relating to allegations by four different women between 2020 and 2022. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":248650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-248649","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}