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It is a hot Sunday afternoon in Southern California. Right around 90F. Throw-in the Heat Shield Factor and it feels like 100. You live in Orange County and simply wouldn't entertain a drive on 405 freeway to go north to Los Angeles.
Iranian crowd anticipating the start of the match
There is simply no way you would sit on the stands to watch any game in this weather for 2 hours. So, what did I do this past Sunday (June 4th)? I drove to UCLA campus in Los Angeles to watch the Iranian Select Stars team play Galaxy of Los Angeles. Did I mention another 4,000 fans did the very same thing? They sure did.
Only one side of the stadium had stands. The other side was decorated with Iranian flags.
A warm hearted crowd battled the heat and traffic to celebrate a gathering. We Iranians who live outside of the homeland borders look for any excuse to get together as a “crowd” and as a community. Concerts are the typical place for many but if you want to chant the name of your country, smile, cheer and jump up and down, what you need is a simple dose of football complimented with dozens of Iranian flags and lots of “Kor Kori.” We had all of that this past weekend.
The Iranians were a group of recent and former national team players. The team from Galaxy was not their A team but that didn't matter. Neither did the final result: Iran won 3 – 1.
It was the spirit of fans, old, young, men, women and those white jersey players that made this afternoon an unforgettable one. The fact that these players managed to get entrance visa to the USA in a short period of time is simply amazing. Let's check the list of players: Alireza Mansourian, Mehdi Amir Abadi, Hossein Kazemi, Farzad Majidi, Hadi Tabatabi, Behnam Abolghasempoor, Hossein Kazemi, Aliakbar Yousefi, Davood Sayed Abassi, Esmail Helali and Mohammad Khakpoor. The team was coached by Estili.
Mehdi Ambirabadi during warm ups. He is an Esteghlal defender who was invited to the national team this past year. He is young and quick and has a lot of promise to return to the national team.
If you are current on your Iranian Football, you would know that most of the players above won the Iranian Premier League this year with Esteghlal. You would also know that Estili was the one that scored Iran's magical first goal against USA in the 1998 world cup and that Khakpoor was a great defender for the national team and currently has his own Football Academy in Newport Beach, CA.
The two teams enter the stadium with flowers.
As for the fans, one can't say enough. With less than a week of promotion for the match and while until the last minute it was not clear how many players from Iran would actually show up, 4,000 excited and loud fans showed up to support a symbol of their homeland. The match was organized by LA Blues, a semi-pro club owned by an Iranian, and a few other individuals and entities.
Alireza Mansourian looks at my camera lenses as he enters the stadium
The highly charged and spirited Iranian crowd (of the 4000 fans, probably 3998 were Iranian), cheered the men in white the entire match. Former national team goalkeeper Tabtabai, was simply awesome. Others played very well. In the second half, a few LA Blues players were subbed in for tired Iranian legs.
Sports TV Journalist Daryoush Zahab was the stadium announcer for this game.
The result of the match was an after thought and a background to the story. Yes the Iranian side won 3 – 1 but it was the display of love and affection by the Iranian community of Southern California that provided the true story line. Those who attended enjoyed the game and the atmosphere. 
Another view of the fans, this time during half time
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