Despairing Out Of Soccer

A story of another friend

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Check out my essay for National Review about the revolution in Iran: Iran’s Revolution Continues.

Check out my review of Persians: The Age of the Great Kings for American Purpose: Searching for Iran’s Secular Heritage.

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Greetings! It’s Sunday evening, and I’m in a good mood. After a month of painful games and terrible results, Real Madrid has started playing well. We just beat a tough opponent 0–2 in an away game with a packed stadium.

I have written previously about how soccer is life in Iran. I met most of my friends in Iran through a shared love for the beautiful game. Specifically, I met B, who’s my oldest friend and one of the closest ones.

Unlike me, B is a fool. He loves F.C. Barcelona. We met through a La Liga—the Spanish league—fan club. Our passion for Spanish soccer and a shared talent in argumentativeness, as well as hatred for the Islamic Republic, brought us together. Among friends, we joined force in political arguments and a defense of atheism. Alone, we butted heads over soccer. I haven’t seen him in 11 years. Yet we talk at least once a week and at length.