Iran midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi sat on the ground and wept just after the final whistle signaled a 1-0 United States victory.
Seconds later, he felt a big arm around his shoulder. It was Josh Sargent, the USA forward, who had dueled with him during the game, crouching down in front of him. Then another American, DeAndre Yedlin, joined in to comfort the Iranian player.
For Sargent, seeing Ezatolahi’s tears gave him a lump in his throat, and his own emotion welled. Talking about it later, his voice cracked a little, and he will remember that part of the night as much as anything that happened during the game.
“I just really feel for any team,” Sargent said. “Obviously it’s a big tournament, no matter who it was, seeing people upset like that touches me in a different way. It was on my way to where the team was anyway, so I thought I’d say something nice and encouraging.”
Sargent added: “Everybody is human, obviously. We’ve all been working our a**es off to get to this important point of our lives. This is the pinnacle of everybody’s career. I know it is not an easy situation when you lose.” Via @foxsports@_joshsargent_@yedlinny
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