You will be hard pressed to find more passionate sets of fans like the Persians football fans.
In every part of the globe Team Melli has played, there has been loyal fans flocking to the stadium cheering for their beloved team. The last recent camp in Austria was a testament to the passion, patriotism, loyalty and sheer devotion of the Persians to their team and country.
In the little sleepy Austrian town of Hartberg , with a total population of just over 6000 people, in their modest football stadium holding a capacity of 4500 , over 4000 Iranian fans traveled from all across Austria , Germany and other parts of Europe to cheer their team and give them moral support ahead of the World Cup. None of the matches played in Austria had much importance or significance in any sense. They were glorified training sessions for the team, but the vocal support the fans offered the players from the stands in the three matches , not only encouraged them to perform better but also made them feel the extent of the passion these supporters have towards Team Melli.
“I like to really thank these loyal fans that traveled a long distances to come and cheer for us “ Ando Teymourian who is no stranger to seeing massive crowds in Azadi said of the fans in Austria “ We realize how much responsibility we carry on our shoulder and how we the players can make millions of our supporters feel the joy and pride if we do well in the World Cup.”
Gatherings of true Iranian supporters in many parts of the globe is something that no other team in the world can claim to have. We are not talking about those Thai fans cheering for England in a game held in Bangkok Stadium, or the Chinese chanting for Brazil in a game in Beijing, but true supporters of the team, passionate and loyal supporters who cheer and support regardless of the outcome. Iran is certainly blessed with such class of supporters.
There are millions of Iranian expatriate livings outside the country. Be it the thousands of expatriate workers in the Asian Far East, or the huge numbers of them in the Persian Gulf countries, the millions in America and Europe , some of whom are sons and daughters of immigrants who would be second or third generation Iranians, even in Africa despite the smaller numbers but definitely as vocal and as passionate , these fans embrace the passion for the motherland and are the core of the global support that Team Melli is blessed with.
We expect to see these fans in Brazil, large number of them carrying the tri-color of Iran, chanting, cheering and hopefully enjoying themselves after victories and experiencing a sense of pride and achievement.
Salute and Kudos to all Iranian fans across the globe, for you are truly one of a kind.
