Metric football brings Iraqis together

Scotsman:

ONE Sunni man drove 30 minutes through the dangerous streets of Baghdad to watch the football game with his Shiite friends whom he had not seen in months.

A 40-year-old Shiite could not contain his tears when he joined three Sunni friends, who used to play in a local football team with him, in a coffee shop to watch Iraq take on Vietnam in the Asian Cup quarter-finals this weekend.

Iraq's team is made up of Shias, Sunnis and Kurds - and coached by a Brazilian, Jorvan Vieira. And together they delivered.

Iraq won 2-0 in Bangkok, thanks to two goals from captain Younis Mahmoud, to advance to the semi-finals for the first time since 1976, where they will face South Korea, causing hundreds of people from across the sectarian divide to overcome fears of violence and take to the streets in a spontaneous celebration.

Men of all ages waved Iraqi flags and danced a jig in the streets, while others jumped on top of cars and rode around, horns honking.

Typically for Iraq, it could not pass without some harm - five people, including two children, were killed and 25 wounded in celebratory gunfire, according to health officials in Baghdad.

Iraqis said the jubilation over the victory - albeit brief - showed they can come together despite the past years of spiralling violence between Sunnis and Shiites that has made Baghdad a maze of concrete barriers and largely confined people to their own neighbourhoods.

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"None of our politicians could bring us under this flag like our national football team did," said Abdul-Rahman Abdul-Hassan. "I wish that politicians could take a lesson from our team, which is made up of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds who worked together regardless of their backgrounds and won."

Mr Abdul-Hassan, a 40-year-old Shiite education ministry worker who lives in the northern Baghdad district of Kazimiyah, joined three Sunni friends watching the game in a coffee shop. He said it was the first time he had seen his former football team-mates in two years because they had fled the predominantly Shiite area due to the sectarian tensions.

"Ahmed, Naji and Abdul-Karim were there with us," the father of three said, giving only the first names of his friends. "We kissed and hugged each other and recalled our days when we were part of the local team in Kazimiyah and how we were playing in an organised fashion regardless of our religious and ethnic affiliations."

Sami Talib, a 54-year-old retired teacher who is a Shiite living in western Baghdad, agreed. "The Iraqi football team made us happy despite all of our deep sorrow," he said. "The win unified Iraqis and uncovered their real core... I hope our politicians do the same and put aside their political disputes to win also and achieve the security and stability in our beloved country."

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There is actually much more. It is like a real reporter went out and talked to real Iraqis about something besides violence.

Am I the only one that finds it ironic that the team they beat to advance was Vietnam's. I am glad to see they beat the commies too. By bringing all these people together, this win has to be a strategic defeat for al Qaeda, at least on a short term basis.