Carlos Queiroz criticised protesting Iran fans for trying to "kill" his players.
The Iran boss reacted after his side were thrashed 6-2 by England. His stars refused to sing the national anthem as supporters loudly booed and whistled. But the players were still being criticised by protesting fans inside the Khalifa International Stadium.
Queiroz said: “You don’t even imagine, or know, what these kids have been living through in the past few days - and just because they want to play football. Whatever they do, whatever they say, they want to kill them.
“Can you imagine in one stage of your life, whatever you do, say, or think, you are killed? They only have one hope, to play for the people and the country.
"I am very proud of what the players did but of course in 2014 and 2018 we had full support of the fans. Now you saw what happened today, the fans who aren't ready to support the team should stay home."
The Iran manager was not happy and believes his players were distracted by the scenes and constant questioning in the build up. He said: “My point is about distractions.
“Everybody knows the present circumstances of the environment of my players is not the best in terms of concentration because they are affected by those issues.
“They are human beings, they are kids. They only have one dream to play for the people. I am very proud of them, they way they stand up and keep fighting. I’m very proud of what they did.”
Queiroz also confirmed goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand suffered concussion and a broken nose during the game. The shot-stopper received treatment on the pitch for about 10 minutes before trying to play on during Iran's opening group match against England. The 'keeper was eventually taken off on a stretcher and replaced.
The Iran boss said: “You are not able to stop the player bleeding, so apparently it’s related to the nose broken. We thought he could keep going but we had some signs the possibility of concussion.”
