Posted on 07/30/2007 5:53:43 AM PDT by .cnI redruM
It wasn't on Ice, but it was a Miracle. Iraq 1- Saudi Arabia 0.
So just how important is athletic competition? I think it’s obvious that it’s more than just a game. On the surface, no one in Baghdad or Tikrit will suddenly have a better life this morning than they did yesterday. However, I doubt any intelligent individual would argue they won’t have a nicer day.
Athletic competition, especially between national teams, matters more than most people would readily admit. People in Iraq are genuinely proud that their soccer team just defeated Saudi Arabia’s 1-0 in the title game of International Soccer’s Asia Cup. Not because they have any reason to dislike the Saudis more than they dislike Iran or Israel for example, but rather because this is the first time since the downfall of Saddam Hussein, they’ve had a reason to collectively high-five as a nation.
Anyone who doesn’t understand the reason Iraqis celebrate this victory wasn’t glued to the front of a television, watching the Lake Placid Olympics, during the dreary winter of 1980. That was the year when our boys in Red, White and Blue beat the Soviet Union’s national team in hockey. I was only eleven at the time, but that mob-scene celebration after we won is a memory that will last a lifetime.
One of my aunts, about the most liberal partisan you’d ever want to meet, still occasionally complains to this day that Team USA scored the go-ahead goal while she was using the rest room. Even with Democrat Jimmy Carter in the White House, she believes it was a Republican conspiracy. In fairness to my aunt, she is a rather rabid hockey fan.
So this is a day on which Iraqis celebrate more than just a well-played soccer game against a deeply-financed and talented opponent. The new Iraq may have just come of age. International Soccer probably didn’t quite make the list of eighteen benchmarks we wanted the Iraqis to work on, but who can argue that this particular collective enterprise of the Iraqi nation didn’t just deliver the mail?
Realists would stipulate that Iraq still has enough problems to give God a migraine. They have to figure out how to work together off a soccer pitch as well. However, the process of truly becoming a new nation may have started last night. People from every region and religious background in Iraq put it together and seriously kicked some butt.
That can’t be the sort of thing that Osama Bin Ladin or Harry Reid wants to see happening on a regular basis. No one can claim the US just handed them this one. The Iraqis reached out and took it as theirs. Those of us who want the Iraqis to build a new nation in the face of both Al Qaeda and the anti-war movement in the United States greet the conquering Iraqi Soccer Team with one word.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
can’t they just have one day where they win something?
A very good reply.
America should inundate all the sports possible to these cave dwellers. May-be, just may-be it will get their minds occupied on something besides killing one another???
NASCAR should think about going to Iraq and, introduce their sport??? LOL:-)
ping
Pro Iraq news, ping?
Shouldn't we all be concerned for the lives and well being of American military personnel?
I’m amazed you haven’t signed up yourself and volunteered.
You missed the point about who should be volunteering didn't you.
Indeed we should. You deserve a cookie for expressing your concern. Never mind the fact that you did so in the midst of a propaganda exercise, designed to undermine the very mission those US soldiers are currently engaged in. Other than that, your concern was deeply touching.
>>>You missed the point about who should be volunteering didn’t you.
No. I heard your point, understood your point, and found it to be utter male bovine feces.
In a related story, the Saudi national team was shot today..........
LMAO!
It was enjoyable to see that caliber of play on a local rink and to see the players up close and personal.
This team was composed of Iraqis from the different Iraqi sects-Shia, Sunni, and Kurd. ‘Sorta says something to those who say...”They’ve been at each other’s throats for a thousand years, how are we going to........”. Doesn’t it?
That’s what Taliban did the moment they grabbed the power - abolish sports, music and entertainment in general. For entertainment they shot women at the stadiums, while spectators at the stands, including children, ate icecream and watched.
Iraq The Model
http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/2007/07/mesopotamia-champions-of-asia.html
Mesopotamia: The Champions of Asia
I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said hat today has been as exciting as one of those election days in Baghdad. Our national soccer team is playing for the Asian cup for the first time in its history. By comparison this is as if the American team is playing for the cup of Copa America against the team of Brazil or Argentina! But of course here in Iraq we care way more about soccer than Americans do. No offense meant of course!
The government had already announced shorter work hours in all government offices, including the parliament, for today so that people can go home early enough to watch the match.
2:00 pm…
I went out in the early afternoon to bring some food and gasoline for the generator as I had only a few liters left in the generator’s tank and I didn’t want to take chances.
I found that small crowds have gathered around gas vendors, obviously the demand is higher today and no one seems willing to miss part of the match because of a stupid gallon of gas. As a result gas price rocketed to more than 4 dollars a gallon; that’s a 30 % increase from just two days ago.
Curfew was imposed at 4 in the afternoon and will last until tomorrow morning but in fact the streets were going to be empty even without a curfew.
Everyone seemed in a hurry buying what they need to before they all go home to sit in front of the TV sets.
I returned home, filled all three generators with gasoline just in case one of them fails us, which is something that happens quite often. I also put several cans of beer in the fridge and brought some Pringles chips. The ultimate snack when watching soccer, or pretty much everything!
The good surprise came at 4:30 when the state electricity came after two days of
absence; I assume it’s a small “gift” from the government and the electricity department.
4:35, the match begins!
The first half (45 minutes plus 3 minutes of added time) showed clear Iraqi supremacy but it also showed the level of tension between the two teams. There was a lot of rough playing and as a result 5 yellow cards were shared by Iraqi and Saudi players. Actually it’s well known that Arab teams become more aggressive when playing against another Arab team reflecting the kind of “brotherhood” among Arabs!
So, the first half ended without scoring any goals and the result remains 0-0.
5:25…
I used the half time break to write these few notes and now I must put the laptop aside and go back to pop another can of beer and watch the second half.
Many Iraqis said they will be celebrating their team regardless of the result, so tonight there will be joy no matter what.
6:30…
No, the joy is not for “no matter what”….Our team has just won the Asian cup for the first time in our soccer history. The win came through a magnificent goal by the head of our heroic forward Younis Mahmoud at the 71st minute of the match..
Our team ruled the game by all standards; in defense, midfield and attack our players proven that they are the best…they are now the masters of Asian soccer!
Today is definitely the happiest day for Iraqis in years. Tears of joy mixed with prayers for hope on the faces of millions of Iraqis…Words truly fail me and I can’t describe the feeling so please pardon me if the post doesn’t sound coherent; I hear the cheering and music outside although the bullets of celebration keep falling on the ground and roofs here and there. But no one seems to worry about that, the moment is so great that fear has no place in the hearts of the millions of fans, neither from bullets nor from crazy suicide bombers who tried to kill our joy last week.
Our players, tonight our heroes, learned that only with team work they had a chance to win.
May our politicians learn from the players and from the fans who are painting a glorious image of unity and national pride, and let the terrorists know that nothing can kill the spirit of the sons of the immortal Tigris and Euphrates.
The fear is gone, the curfew is ignored, tonight Iraq knows only joy...
” but part of me thinks they should be building schools for their children and ensuring militias aren’t taking over their neighborhoods rather than kicking a stupid ball around.”
They need to get along with each other to do these other things.
This win can help them do that hopefully.
Great article.
The dumbest comment of the month.
young fit iraqi men, playing a game, while Americans fight for their freedom..........????
And what makes you think they’re not?
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