Iranians go insane for Germany

GERMANY’S footballers were greeted by thousands of cheering locals yesterday when they arrived in Tehran for tomorrow’s friendly against Iran.

Crowds of people at Mehrabad airport greeted the visitors with chants of “Germany, Germany” and “Welcome to Iran”. The numbers were so great that security officials led the German players out through a side entrance.

“It’s fantastic to get a welcome like that,” said manager Oliver Bierhoff. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” added defender Christian Woerns.

Even though German media have labelled the match the first appearance by a major world soccer power since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Ireland played a World Cup qualifying play-off in Tehran in 2001 and Asian teams are regular visitors.