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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...

JAKARTA, Indonesia — 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 today, yet he feared for his life if he went home to celebrate the stunning victory. "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 Iraqi captain...

AKARTA (Reuters) - Iraq defied seemingly impossible odds to beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the Asian Cup final on Sunday, providing a fairytale ending to the tournament and a rare moment of celebration in their war-torn homeland. Iraqi captain Younis Mahmoud scored the winner in the 71st minute when he climbed above the defence at the far post and headed a perfectly-weighted corner from Hawar Mulla Mohammed into the net. Saudi Arabia had been bidding to become the first country to win the Asian Cup four times but were outplayed by an Iraqi team riding high on a wave of...

This will be unbelievable if it holds up...