August 12, 2004

Gooooaaaaaaallllll!!!!!

I'm rooting for these guys in the Olympic soccer tournament. American sports champions are traditionally invited to the White House for a photo op with the president. No matter what medal the Iraqi soccer team wins or doesn't win, President Bush ought to have them flown straight from Athens to Washington when their games are over. And give them the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Even give one to the coach, who hasn't realized yet that the reason he can voice his opinion, and the reason his players play without fear, because of what the Americans did.

From the San Jose Mercury News:

PATRAS, Greece -- This was a real opening ceremony, one without light shows or music. In this seaside town three hours northwest of Athens, the full power of the Olympics was on display.

Think the Games are meaningless? An obsolete exercise? Their meaning was clear to the 18 men who marched out behind the Iraq flag to play in the nation's first Olympic soccer game in 16 years.

The significance pulsated through the crowd of about 2,500 Iraqi supporters, who danced and chanted and waved Iraqi flags, many with tears in their eyes as they watched their country upset talented Portugal, 4-2, in the opening round.

The relevance drives Adnan Hamad, the coach of the Iraqi team. "I think football is very important for the people in Iraq," Hamad said. "It helps the people to forget the problems. It is important for peace."

This was an astonishing victory. During the war, the team's stadium was used as a staging area for American tanks. The original coach, a German named Bernd Stange, resigned after being told he would be murdered if he entered the country. It only practiced twice in recent weeks because of the danger involved traveling in Iraq.

This soccer team is, to many Iraqis, a miracle, rising from the ruins of Saddam Hussein's reign. Hussein's son Uday was a corrupt and sadistic minister of sports, torturing athletes who did not meet his expectations.

So when Haidar Jabar scored an own goal to give Portugal an early 1-0 lead, one could only wince, imagining what punishment he would have earned from Uday: Perhaps his feet would have been caned, or he would have been dragged on the pavement. The Iraqi players once lived in mortal fear of making such a mistake.

But Thursday, they played with a grace and freedom. They played to heal their country. "This is our present to the Iraqi people," said team captain Wahab Abu Al Hail.

From the NYT:

"The main reason for our good performance now is that they are playing without fear," said Tiras Odisho Anwaya, the director general of the National Olympic Committee of Iraq.