Iraq’s soccer team, drawn from all the nation’s religious and ethnic groups, is providing the war-weary country with a peaceful diversion.
The squad won the Asian Cup in 2007, bringing thousands into the streets of Baghdad and other cities to celebrate. They’re now competing in the Confederations Cup in South Africa and were due to play European champions Spain last night.
“It doesn’t matter if they win or lose,” former Baghdad resident and soccer fan Doraid al-Beek, 32, said during his team’s scoreless draw with South Africa in the June 14 tournament opener. “It means we don’t have to be sad and think about the war all the time. It helps us think about the future of Iraq and not the past.”
PHOTO: AFP
According to the Iraq Body Count Web site, an independent monitor of civilian deaths in the country, around 100,000 people have died due to violence since the beginning of the war in 2003 and the ensuing sectarian attacks. The Iraqi team, which only plays matches overseas, hasn’t escaped the bloodshed.
Goalkeeper Noor Sabri was told his brother-in-law had been killed as the team played in the Asian Cup. Midfielder Hawar Mulla Mohammed’s mother-in-law died in an explosion and fellow-midfielder Nashat Akram lost an uncle and two nephews in another bomb attack.
Akram said he and his teammates understand they have a responsibility to lift spirits back home. Joyous celebrations took place when the team beat Saudi Arabia to win the Asian Cup in Jakarta.
“We feel mentally and physically prepared to help the Iraqi people and football is our weapon,” Akram said before the South Africa match.
The Lions of Mesopotamia, as the team is known, are a rarity. The squad, which is ranked 77th by soccer world governing body FIFA, isn’t divided by the sectarianism that afflicts Iraq today where ethnic differences have been behind thousands of murders and bombings in recent years.
“What’s important to us is to represent all the people and communities whatever their backgrounds,” Akram said. “We are represented by all sects: Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds — even Christians.”
Even before the war, the Iraq soccer team didn’t have it easy. It was overseen by ousted president Saddam Hussein’s eldest son Uday. The players endured physical violence for poor performances. Uday forced the team to play barefoot with a concrete ball after one failed World Cup-qualification bid, the Guardian newspaper reported.
“It’s not like before,” Akram said. “When we play now it’s just football and sport, nothing else.”
Still, insecurity back home has forced a nomadic existence on the team. In its failed campaign to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, Iraq had to play home games in neighboring countries including Jordan.
“I have maybe 70 or 75 games with the national team and I’ve played only two of those in Iraq,” 24-year-old Akram said. “This is very sad.”
Still, the team’s existence alone is enough for some of the 200 supporters watching them play in South Africa.
“It makes the Iraqi people very proud after all the things that have happened,” said Samia al-Zubaida, a 50-year-old who moved to Pretoria after the war broke out. “It means a lot to us that we can be a part of things like this again.”
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