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The streets of Baghdad are completely deserted, fuel is conserved to operate the aggregates to guarantee undisrupted supply of electricity. There is happiness and joy all around, no one is a stranger but participate in the celebrations.
What is happening? Simple answer: 11 Iraqi men on a soccer pitch in Asia defending national Iraqi honor in a semi-final match against South-Korea. The Iraqi’s haven’t come this far in 30 years, the nation is united in their support. Unbelievable.
I found a satellite channel with live broadcast of the match. At the 90 minute mark, the game is scoreless 0-0. Going into extra time of twice 15-min. and decision must come. or a penalty shoot-out will follow.
For the Iraqi people … GO IRAQI’S!
Iraq's fans cheer during their 2007 AFC Asian Cup
semi-final soccer match against South Korea
in Kuala Lumpur. (Reuters)
Previous match: 2-0 victory over Vietnam.
“By this game, we are united! By this game, we are defiant!” chanted one group of youths wrapped in Iraqi flags.
“How about a little something for Iraq’s good fortune?” one beggar asked with a wide, toothless grin.
Few spectators missed the irony of Iraq defeating Vietnam, a nation with its own experience with a bloody, ill-fated U.S. war. One Iraqi sports commentator dubbed the match “the wounded vs. the healed.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki praised “the brave lions of Mesopotamia” and the embattled Iraqi parliament blessed the players in a session before the game.
The U.S. military also rooted for the home team in Wednesday’s semi-finals in Kuala Lumpur. “Good luck against the winner of the second-round quarterfinals team, neighboring Iran or the Republic of Korea!” a U.S. statement said.
Sporadic bursts of celebratory gunfire sounded even before the game had ended, and erupted into a full-scale symphony once the clock had run out. The rat-a-tat-tat of machine guns was drowned out by the thundering booms of larger weapons. Iraqi authorities said at least two people were killed and 50 injured by stray bullets.
At one traffic circle, Iraqi police abandoned their checkpoint and were busy lighting fireworks. At another, Iraqi soldiers in spiffy uniforms danced in a circle, pumping their AK-47s in the air.
“This is the happiness of a whole people,” said Abdel Basit Majeed, 41, who watched the game from his sporting-goods shop in Karada. “They are forgetting what happened to them yesterday, what happened last year, what happened before. They needed this joy. This is proof that the Iraqi people are bigger than their tragedies.”
Iraq in Asian Cup Final!
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
