October 11-13
An Iranian-American professional soccer player has been invited to join Iran’s national soccer team for its Asian Cup match against Thailand next week.
San Jose Earthquakes’ defender Steven Beitashour, 26, was a surprise addition to coach Carlos Queiroz’s 27-man roster for the Iranian national team’s October 15 Asian Cup qualifier. The match will be played at Azadi Stadium in Tehran.
Rumors surfaced last year that Queiroz was interested in Beitashour.
The Quakes announced Monday that their starting right back would fly to Iran and join training camp there after playing Wednesday night (October 9) in a Major League Soccer match.
Beitashour, who holds US and Iranian citizenship, has vacillated between representing his two countries. The fullback has said he just wants to play in the World Cup. Both Iran and the United States have qualified for the 2014 finals in Brazil.
Beitashour’s chances with the US national team appeared dim after he trained with the Americans in 2012 and again in January but did not appear in a game. If Beitashour plays next week in Tehran, he would lose eligibility to compete for the United States under international rules.
Beitashour was born in San Jose, California, to Iranian parents. His father is a Christian Assyrian and his mother is a Persian Muslim. She is currently in Tehran visiting relatives—and now awaiting her son’s arrival. He has only visited Iran once before, as a child.
In an Interview in 2011, he said he likes to follow many Persian traditions. “We do all the Persian traditions, as far as Persian New Year and [Islamic] fasting, which is actually going on right now [in Ramadan]. My dad is Christian and my mom is Muslim so they don’t force me to do it, especially because of soccer. So I’m kind of halfway doing all of the traditions.”
Beitashour majored in communications at San Diego State University.
He was drafted in 2010 by the San Jose Earthquakes. He made his professional debut on April 10, 2010, and scored his first and so far only professional goal on April 24, 2010. He is a defender so he doesn’t get many chances to score.
In a 2012 interview, he was asked whether he would choose to play for the Iranian or US national teams. He diplomatically sidestepped the question. “I think it’s a great position to be in to have two options, to say the least…. I just got to keep playing well here [for the Earthquakes]. I think that’s the main thing, and good things will come from that.”
Since Queiroz took the helm of Iran’s national team in 2011, he has been seeking talented players from the Diaspora, though so far only one such player has appeared in any games.
In June 2012, the website Khabar Online said political issues concerning Beitashour’s US citizenship had presented a barrier and put the invitation to Beitashour on hold.
In an interview this week with Sports Illustrated, Beita-shour said his decision “is really just about soccer. I’ve wanted to play in a World Cup since I was a little kid. This is a great opportunity coming up and I hope I can make the most of it.”
His American-born background is likely to attract attention in Tehran, especially after President Rohani’s foreign policy initiative. Many in Tehran will probably think his invitation to the team is part of those political moves.
Beitashour said he doesn’t follow politics and won’t be able to talk much about US-Iran relations in Tehran. “I don’t mind being asked. But, unfortunately for them, I can’t give them an answer,” he said. The US Soccer Federation has invited Iran’s national team to come to the United States to play a four-game series of friendly matches, the Tehran Times reported Saturday.
If Iran accepts, it will be only the third time the two countries have played each other.
The Tehran Times quoted Ali Kafashian, president of the Iranian Football Federation, as saying the US federation was trying to hold a four-team tournament to include the US, Iran, a South American team and a European team.
Such an event would provide excellent preparation for Iran before next summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil. However, Iran has already canceled some foreign matches because of the government’s financial problems. But Kafashian was reported as saying he had gotten approval to attend the tournament in the United States.
The US and Iran have played each other twice before. Iran beat the US 2-1 in the 1998 World Cup finals and the teams played to a 1-1 tie in a friendly match in Pasadena, California, two years after that.