Team Melli, a team driven by passion

I am not going to try to quantify the passion that we Iranians have for our beloved Team Melli. All of you feel the same about your national team. But I will tell you that the passion is so intense that the fans are willing to risk getting arrested for a simple thing like celebrating a victory, or watching a game.

When Iran qualified for the 1998 World Cup after a 20 year absence man and woman, boy and girl, young and old all took to the streets without concerns for “Morality Police” who on every other day would have arrested many of them for dancing in public.

Some young women risk getting arrested when they disguise themselves as men just to attend games in stadiums.

Anyway, because of all that passion, many Iranians claim Team Melli is a team built on love and driven by passion.