Honestly, we weren’t really sure what to expect out of the US-Iran matchup Wednesday.
We didn't expect any trouble per se, certainly not between the teams, but given the tensions between the countries for the last 42 years, who knows? The Iranians might have simply refused to play, as Iranian athletes are routinely told to do in individual sports when they have to face Israelis.
When the US and Iran met in the 1998 World Cup, the Iranians (Team B) were ordered not to approach the US team (Team A) first, as custom dictated.
The US agreed to reverse protocol and the Iranians greeted them with flowers.