Iraqis Bask in Rare Joy After Soccer Win
The only unifying incident in Iraq since the illegal March 2003 U.S. invasion has been the success of Iraq’s national soccer (the correct name of the sport is football, but I’ll use the word soccer so U.S. citizens will understand) team. It won the Asian Cup by beating Saudi Arabia on July 29, 2007.The success of Iraqi soccer has been used as propaganda in the past by George Bush. During his 2004 presidential campaign, he cited Iraq as a "free country" that could now participate in world sports after the Iraqis’ qualification for the Olympic Games. But, some players took offence at Bush’s patting himself on the back. The team captain told reporters that if he was not playing on the national team, he would be fighting with the Iraqi resistance to rid his country of foreign occupation...
Younis Mahmoud's victory celebrations were tempered by reality. Mahmoud scored the winning goal in Iraq's 1-0 Asian Cup final win over Saudi Arabia on Sunday, yet he feared for his life if he went home to celebrate the stunning victory, and said he would not be returning to the war-torn country. "I don't want the Iraqi people to be angry with me," he said. But, "If I go back with the team, anybody could kill me or try to hurt me. "One of my closest friends, they (the authorities) came to arrest him, and for one year neither me nor his family knew where he is." The Sunni Muslim Iraqi captain — who like the rest of the team wore a black arm band to remember the dozens killed by carbombers following the side's semifinal victory over South Korea on Wednesday — said the American presence in his homeland was a "problem." "I want America to go out," he said....
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 4:36 AM
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