Ned Parkers' blog form inside Iraq

Iraq’s rag-tag football squad, a rare collective of Shia, Sunni and Kurdish unity, had clawed its way to the final of the Asian Games, providing brief relief to the long-suffering fans and country.

But a late soft goal scored when the ball struck an opposing Qatari player’s head and shoulder broke Baghdad’s collective heart yesterday.

Where victory in the qualifying rounds had elicited celebratory gunfire in Baghdad, the metropolis sat in uncomfortable silence last night.

Iraqis had wanted so much to win. They had gone into the tournament expecting nothing. If the Saddam era had been a nightmare where the jailed dictator’s son Uday had tortured top players for losing, the past three years had been even worse. A key player and member of the Iraqi Olympic team was kidnapped in September and Iraq’s national football coach resigned in July after receiving death threats.

Despite the disappointment, not everyone took defeat so hard. In Iraq’s southern port of Basra, people were still jubilant. Dozens of Iraqis braved the streets after dark, waving their red, white and black Iraqi flags. They danced and cheered their team which had defied the odds.

In Amman homesick Iraqis, who fled their country, wrapped themselves in giant flags and sang: “We won, we won. You are lions.” Iraqiya state television ran non-stop footage of the highlights. “Iraq has a culture more than 6,000 years old. The Iraqi team is from the mountains of Dohuk to the Marshes of Amara. The team’s defence is like a wall of fire,” a poet recited on air.

But such joy could not be found in Baghdad, where Iraqis hoped for a respite from their misery. In western Baghdad’s Saidiya neighbourhood, about a dozen men gathered to watch the match at The Top Internet Café. Just outside, three policemen had been murdered by a checkpoint on Wednesday.

The shop’s owner, Abu Mustafa, had brought in his television especially for the match. “I didn’t want to watch this at home because I get depressed staying at home and I wanted to feel that I am alive,” Abu Mustafa said in his shop, filled with about 15 sports fans.

The fans were happy for the first half, applauding their team and shouting: “Iraq will win.” They applauded their goal-keeper, Muhammed Kaseed, as he heroically kept the Qatari players at bay.

“I will shoot in the air and burn the sky. This is a chance for us to be happy,” said Zaidun Taleb, 30. He used to go to Shaab stadium in eastern Baghdad for football matches before things became too dangerous. The sport fan wanted the Iraqi team to win for his brother who disappeared six months ago.

“If we win, there’ll be such happiness. I’m sure my brother will be happy where ever he is.” But the spectators in The Top Internet Café erupted in fury when Qatar scored its goal.

Taleb and another fan accused Iraq of throwing the game. They said all the Iraqi players wanted to go to Qatar, where the wealthy emirate paid players well and offered them citizenship. “They threw the match,” Taleb said.

But Ahmed Shahab, 26, though that they should be happy with the result. “Thank God, at least we got a silver medal”, he said.

Since the fall of Saddam the team has had some success — notably reaching the Olympic semi-finals in 2004. However, a number of players have been kidnapped

Source: Iraqsport.com, agencies

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