Tehran -

A visitor to the city of Abadan or Abadan, as the locals call it, located in southwestern Iran, may not believe at first glance that the city, which is still suffering from the wounds of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), as nothing in it is higher than the yellow color and the Brazilian national football team .

After 34 years of the longest regular war in the twentieth century and left severe damage to lives and property, the city of Abadan has not yet shaken off the dust of the war, but it continued to graduate great players to football stadiums, some of whom participated in previous versions of the World Cup, and remained on the covenant they made. Her children encourage the Brazilian team.

A tour of the city's streets and squares is enough to make one feel that he is in one of the cities of Brazil, as the yellow color occupies a large area of ​​shop signs and youth clothing, as is the case of Brazil, which is above many of the famous falafel stores.

Fans raise the Brazilian flag in the stadiums of the city (Iranian press)

Brazil Iran

The loyalty of the people of the city to the Brazilian team goes back to just before the outbreak of the Iranian revolution in 1979, when Manouchehr Salia took over the leadership of the Jim Abadan club, and decided to adopt the yellow color instead of the white color for his team’s shirts, and he famously said, “We should not choose a color that resembles the English or Argentine team, but that We wear yellow to be Brazilian."

While Iranian fans at the time were divided in loyalty between the capital's two teams: Blue Taj (Tehran Esteghlal) and Red Persepolis (Tehran Persepolis), Jim Abadan fans chanted "No blue, no red, only golden yellow" and "Brazilian Abadan", becoming the slogan " Abadan, Brazil, Iran,” a symbol of the team, whose name was changed to “Sana’at Neft Abadan” (Abadan Oil Industry) after the Iranian revolution.

With the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980, the yellow team moved to the city of Shiraz in southern Iran, and returned to its stronghold after its end in August 1988, to continue its career in supplying the Iranian national teams with great stars, a number of whom participated in previous World Cup editions.

The city's fans are passionate about football in general (Iranian press)

Sports diplomacy

Away from the football stadiums, the Brazilian ambassador to Iran, Ludmar Gonçales Dagiarento, revealed, in previous statements, that he chanted the slogan "Abadan Brazil, Iran" after presenting his credentials to former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

When he attended the camp of the Sanat Naft team in the capital, Tehran, Daghiariento wore the team's shirt, and expressed his regret that he was unable to visit the city of Abadan due to the Corona pandemic, and pledged to watch one of the Brazilian team's matches in the World Cup in Qatar, accompanied by the fans of the yellow team in the city, which has become known for its encouragement of his country's national team.

The Brazilian ambassador added that he had heard of the Iranian city's passion for his country's national team from his first days in the country, and that he quickly memorized the slogan "Abadan Barzilath" in Persian.

The former Brazilian ambassador to Iran, Rodrigo de Azerdo Santos, visited the city of Abadan in 2018, during which he met members of the Sanat Naft team and the people of the city participated in friendly football matches.

At the end of his two-day visit, he said that he found great commonalities between Brazil and Abadan, perhaps sports and passion for football are the most prominent among them, and that he will not forget the pleasure of watching football matches with the fans of this city.

The former Brazilian ambassador to Iran Rodrigo Santos (center) visited the city in 2018 (Iranian press)

British style

And about the reason for naming Abadan, the Iranian historian Abd al-Nabi Qayyim writes in his article “The History of the City of Abadan,” that it “refers to the worship of the people of Medina. Abbad is an exaggerated form of the word al-Abed, and since the people of this spot were ascetics and worshipers, they called it ‘Abadan, meaning The land of the worshipers or the place of residence of the worshipers.

Despite the destruction that befell the city as a result of the Iran-Iraq war, the valuable historian recalls the era of its prosperity in the last century, especially after the discovery of oil in the Suleiman Mosque area in 1908, when the city was designed in the style of British cities after the British established an oil refinery in it, until it became One of the most important cities in the region and increased immigration to it.

Despite the successive setbacks that have befallen the Brazilian team since it won the World Cup for the last time in 2002, these disappointments did not discourage Al-Abadani from encouraging the yellow team over the past two decades, and they are counting the hours these days to watch the matches of their favorite team alongside the Iranian team in the World Cup Qatar 2022.