news Iran’s Ehsan Hajsafi: ‘The conditions in our country are not right’ | World Cup 2022

Ina significant, politically freighted intervention, Iran's captain Ehsan Hajsafi has said he would be happy for his team to serve as a force for change in a country where protests

against the regime in Tehran continue to escalate.As Iran's government faces its most critical moment since the Islamic revolution in 1979, Hajsafi, a left-back at AEK Athens, on

Sunday night addressed a press conference before his team's opening World Cup group game against England in Doha on Monday.“We have to accept the conditions in our country are

not right and our people are not happy,” he said. “We are here but it does not mean we should not be their voice or we must not respect them.“Whatever we have is from them.

We have to fight. We have to perform and score some goals to present the brave people of Iran with a result. I hope conditions change as to the expectations of the people.”A

popular uprising has been gaining momentum since September after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old detained by the country's morality police for allegedly not covering her

head properly.Since then protests against the rules forcing women to wear the hijab have expanded into widespread discontent with the country's strict theocracy, with more than 380

people said to have been killed by security forces.Quick GuideEngland v Iran teamsShowEngland (4-2-3-1 likely): Pickford; Trippier, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Bellingham, Rice; Saka,

Mount, Sterling; Kane.Iran (4-1-4-1 likely): Beiranvand; Moharrami, Kanaanizadegan, M Hosseini, Hajsafi; Ezatolahi; Jahanbakhsh, Nurollahi, Ghoddos, Amiri; Taremi.Thank you for

your feedback.As a byproduct Carlos Queiroz's team have been placed in the unenviable position of being required to represent the Islamic republic while being under intense

pressure to support millions of protesting compatriots. “The situation in Iran is very difficult,” said Hajsafi, who is aware human rights groups have called for Iran's

expulsion from the World Cup.Tellingly, before taking questions he opened by offering support for those who had lost loved ones during the recent turmoil. “I would like to

express my condolences to all the bereaved families,” he said. “They should know we are with them, we support them and we sympathize with them.”A key moment will arrive

shortly before kick-off when members of a squad thought to be still slightly divided as to how to respond must take individual decisions as to whether to sing a national anthem,

all about glorifying the 1979 revolution.It all dictated that, at the end of a day in which light winds whipped through Doha, creating piles of dust at almost every turn, Queiroz