Harry Kane at England’s training session on Thursday.

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Iranian soccer player Alireza Jahanbakhsh said on Thursday that the team’s focus at the World Cup in Qatar will be on the competition, not political issues related to the nationwide protests in his country.

Asked at a news conference whether the players would chant Iran’s national anthem, winger Jahanbakhsh said “celebration and chanting the anthem is a personal decision and we are trying not to make a big deal out of it”.

Jahanbakhsh switched from Farsi to English before opening with the suggestion that the questioning was an attempt to distract the Iranians before their first match against England on Monday.

“I assume you are probably part of the English media and I’m going to start with this: We are here for our duty and our duty is to play football,” he said.

Jahanbakhsh added that he and his teammates were bound first and foremost by a loyalty to the national team, also known as Team Melli.

Embracing heat

Al Wakrah: England defender Conor Coady said temperatures in Qatar are certainly much hotter than those experienced back home but it is time the players embraced the heat and put it out of their minds.

England held their first training session in the blazing heat at their Al Wakrah training base on Thursday with temperatures above 30°C. But Coady said there was no point “over-thinking” about the heat as it would get them nowhere during the tournament.

Cup betting 

New York: The upcoming World Cup is expected to spur $1.8 billion in bets in the US, a figure that would set a record for the most bet-upon soccer event in the country.

The American Gaming Association released a report saying it expects 20.5 million American adults to place a bet on the World Cup.

Injury scares

Turin: Brazil midfielder Bruno Guimaraes and defender Alex Telles suffered injury scares in the first full training session completed by the five-time World Cup winners in Turin, Italy, on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old Guimaraes, who was celebrating his birthday, left the practice field for several minutes to receive medical attention after forward Rodrygo stepped on his right foot. 

He returned to the session limping and looking uncomfortable, but completed it with his teammates.

Telles received a rough tackle from behind by Neymar and also needed medical assistance. Brazil coach Tite ordered the practice match to stop for a few moments, before Telles returned to the action.

Denmark threat

Al Rayyan: Denmark might not be a World Cup favourite but young playmaker Mikkel Damsgaard feels few of the other 31 countries competing in Qatar are keen to take on his team. 

Denmark were among the first teams to qualify for the tournament and come into the event on the back of an impressive showing at the European Championship 18 months ago, where they reached the semi-finals.

“I don’t think we’re among the top teams but we can compete with anybody,” Damsgaard said. “Of course, we’re not favourites, but I think among the big teams, nobody wants to go up against us.”

Players’ protection 

Doha: Fifa and the global soccer players’ union have launched a moderation service aimed at protecting the World Cup players from abuse on social media during the tournament. 

Fifa said that the more than 830 players in Qatar can access a “dedicated monitoring, reporting and moderation service” that aims to filter hate speech targeted at them.