"When Iran takes on Mexico in Nuremberg on Sunday evening in its opening encounter of the 2006 World Cup, these immigrants will be watching at the homes of relatives or in their own tiny apartments, and they will be cheering for captain Ali Daei and his men.
"I think it's great they got into the World Cup," said one of them, an 18-year-old Iranian Jew who recently made aliya. "I want Iran to win."
This man immigrated along with his two older sisters more than a year ago. Recently his father, mother and youngest sister followed. All of them, with the exception of his oldest sister, who resides in Rehovot, live in Ashdod.
"The 18-year-old and one of his sisters commute together every morning to study at a preparatory school for immigrants in Tel Aviv, returning late at night. The young man hopes to pass preparatory school exams in a month and to gain admission to university.
On Sunday, he hopes he'll finish his studies early enough for the game. "If I get home in
time, I want to see it," he said. "I think most of the Iranians, here and all over the world, hope that Iran will win. Because we remember the days we were in Iran and we were happy. And so we want them to win and we'll be happy again."
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