On Monday last, I went to watch Iran -v- Nigeria with London's Iran fans.
The fans had gathered in an upstairs room of the Henry Holland pub, right by Selfridges. I had found out about it via a Facebook group Iranian Students in UK.
Now, as it turned out, this match was tiresomely boring. A nil all draw does not an interesting match make. But the Iranian fans were much more entertaining, singing, chanting, flag waving, even a little dancing. Someone brought a vuvuzuela
Happily they're all chanting "eee-ran! eee-ran!" over that vuvuzuela. You can't beat a football chant.
Someone here is chanting 'in-go-lay, in-go-lay'. I presume this means 'please score a goal and make this game interesting'.
The event wasn't as big a family affair as the Colombia match I watched - it being organised by students, I guess - but there was a little baby there, playing a little football and mildly oblivious the sport on the screen.
Most of the Iran fans here seem to be students. The Iran student look: jet black, super-quiffed hair and big dark-rimmed glasses.
There was definitely a man with a plan, a guy in charge - he had that vuvuzuela and he wasn't afraid to use it.
The chap leading the chanting is wearing a Brazil cap, England hoodie + is draped in an Iranian flag. ❤️
A blonde woman in a brown suit has just arrived. She's blowing her whistle very enthusiastically.
Full-on chant-a-thon here with the Iranian fans. Sadly still nothing doing in the goal department.
With the match limping to the draw, the Iran fans kept on singing, happily accepting the score. They certainly made watching the match more memorable.
Next up: Sunday's Algeria -v- South Korea match, with Algerian fans.
