Clay Travis: USA/Iran Feels 'Like 1980s-Style Matchup Against Soviet Union'

Published|Updated

On Tuesday afternoon, US Soccer will play its biggest match in over eight years against Iran. The stakes are high, but the situation is fairly simple: win and advance to the knockout stage; lose and the World Cup dream is dead.

OutKick founder Clay Travis joined Fox News earlier Tuesday to discuss this pivotal match and the political undertones that will be at play on the pitch.

"If you're just a sports fan, and you love soccer, and I know there are millions, tens of millions of Americans who are in that camp -- this is a massive game because it's win or the World Cup is over," Travis said.

"And then you add on the layering here of the team that we are going up against is Iran," Travis continued. "It feels an awful lot like a 1980s-style matchup against Russia, against the Soviet Union when we were in the middle of the Cold War."

US Soccer captain Tyler Adams plays a ball against England at the World Cup. USA faces Iran on Tuesday.

The US Soccer draw against England set up a massive World Cup match against Iran. (Photo by Doug Zimmerman /ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Iranian athletes show true bravery at World Cup

Travis then discussed the bravery that the Iranian athletes have shown and how their decision to remain silent during their national anthem is far more impactful than American athletes taking a knee during ours.

"Think about how much time we spent saying 'oh, it's so brave of American athletes to take knees' when they actually get rewarded by woke corporations millions dollars in endorsements for this," Travis said.

"Iran merely not singing the national anthem there are reports that the players' families could be tortured in their country. There's a lot more at stake here, far more than who wins this match. I want the US to win but this is a seismic day on the global stage, not just for sports, but for human rights."

Feeding into this intense matchup are the Iranian "journalists" who insist on pressuring US athletes. One of the media members asked US captain Tyler Adams how he feels "representing a country that has so much discrimination against black people."

Adams, to his incredible credit, did not give in and gave a very measured response.

Travis furthered discussed how this match represents so much more than just a soccer game. This game matters from a political standpoint and the teams are emblematic of very different styles of government.

"We talk a lot about good and evil. And there are many people who want to tear down the American form of government and argue that America is systemically racist or an awful place. Iran and their government -- not the Iranian people -- represents true evil in the world today."

Clay Travis' entire conversation with Fox News can be seen below. US Soccer and Iran kickoff at 2:00pm Eastern time on Fox.

Tags
Written by

Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.