The Enduring Spirit of the Iraq Football Team
Iraq has been a nation plagued by war and conflict for a very long time. With the rising tensions and constant security threats, sport has been severely affected in the country. The Iraqi national football team has been a powerhouse of the region for many
years. In 2007 they were even crowned Asian champions when they managed to beat Saudi Arabia. The team has tried to be upbeat and train just as hard as they used to despite the violence that has engulfed their country. As the war subsides and Iraq gets back
on its feet, football will once again help to lift the spirits of the people of this war torn country. The next few years will be a testing time for the team, as their new German coach tries to untie the ethnically diverse team and help it to play as a strong,
solid unit.
Iraq’s football team has had a tumultuous journey till date. Even though there has been a football team in the country for a very long time, the team had its golden period during the 1970s and 1980s. The team performed very well during this time, participating
in numerous tournaments and winning many of them. Iraq finished in fourth place in the 1976 AFC Asian Cup, and then the wins started. It won the 1982 Asian Games, the Arab Nations Cup 4 times, the 1985 Pan Arab Games and the Gulf Cup of Nations 3 times as
well. The team also managed to qualify for the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico and also qualified for the Moscow, Los Angeles and Seoul Olympic Games. The team then experienced its worst period following the end of the 80s.
Under the rule of Saddam Hussain, Saddam’s son Udday was in charge of the football team and under his leadership things were very bad for the players. Failure would result in jail time, floggings and other harsh punishments. Losses would result in whippings
with electric cables and baths in raw sewage. Missing open goals, penalties or scoring own goals would see the offending player being whipped on his feet with thorny branches. It was the worst time in the football team’s history. After the overthrow of the
Saddam government and the war in the country, the situation improved. Despite a war going on in the country, 2004 was the best year for the team. They reached their highest FIFA ranking peaking at number 39. They continued to win matches and qualified for
many tournaments in the years that followed. With a new coach at the helm, the team is looking to capitalise on their renewed success and will try and assert their dominance first on the Arab world, then Asia and then in time, maybe the world.
The new German coach in charge of the team, Wolfgang Sidka, has a tough task in front of him. The other problem in Iraq at the moment is that the country is made up of Shiaa Muslims, Sunni Muslims and a Kurdish minority. So naturally the team is made up
of these three groups of players. The team has to forget their differences and play as a solid unit and the coach is working hard to achieve this goal. He seems to be doing a very good job of it too because the team looks like they are gelling very well together
and are working very hard to try and impress him. This fact has been seen by journalists who were given exclusive access to see the team train. The players all take to the field and train very hard and do not care who is looking at them and whether there are
cameras around or not. If this sort of motivation can be sustained and the team can maintain its present strong form, they look all set to win a lot of tournaments in the future.
It is a very impressive feat that the players of the Iraqi team have been able to achieve. Despite huge odds that the country has experienced; coming out of a very brutal government and finally being taken over by foreign powers, the team has somehow survived
and is thriving. This is the power that sports can have over people. Football can give the players a chance to make their nation proud of them and it can help the fans to forget the horrors of war and enjoy a simple game of football.
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