Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
I always turn to the sports page first. The sports page records people’s accomplishments; the front page nothing but man’s failures,” said Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the US (1891-1974).
I read those famous lines under the ‘What They Said…’ column in the Gulf Daily News.
The timing was remarkably chilling as another senseless day of killings in Baghdad following Iraq’s thrilling victory over South Korea in the Asian Cup semi-final had claimed more than 50 innocent lives.
That soccer is a substitute for war is a common lament, but when the reverse happens the ensuing calamity is beyond comprehension. Iraq’s unbelievable victory over Saudi Arabia on Sunday to lift the Asian Cup should be viewed in this perspective to fully understand its importance and relevance.
Iraq came into the tournament as the clear underdogs, under-prepared and under tremendous pressure to perform for the safe of a country in eternal mourning.
The team signed on a new coach in Jorvan Vieira just a couple of months before the tournament, but still had no infrastructure to practice.
The squad, made up of Shi’ites, Sunnis and Kurds and with a Brazilian as a mentor and friend, moved to Jordan to escape being targeted by fundamental groups. Yet, they managed to vanquish super powers like South Korea in the semi-final and on-form favourites Saudi Arabia in the final for a fitting fairytale ending.
It was inspiring stuff as the Iraqis underlined sports’ unique power to unite people under dire circumstances, something which global politicians of all hues have so abjectly failed.
As I write this, the Iraqis are celebrating on my TV screen, tears of joy flowing down their cheeks, and for the moment the wretched war back home is forgotten.
Iraqi team goalkeeper Noor Sabri perhaps best captured the situation. “You know the difficulties in Iraq,” he said after his team booked a place in the final. “What we can achieve inside the field, it’s a modest thing we can give to our people. We have to show them we are sharing with them the celebrations.”
That was just before suicide bombers ploughed through crowds of celebrating fans in Baghdad toturn a dream-come-true moment into a nightmare in a matter of seconds.
I can’t remember any other team going deep into an important tournament under such excruciating circumstances. And that Iraq did it for the third time (and eventually win the title as they did on Sunday) in recent years speaks volumes for the players’ resilience, courage and determination.
There is not a single player in the team who is not untouched by the happenings back home. According to the team’s media officer Walled Tabra at least three players lost relatives in the past few months, including goalkeeper Sabri who lost his brother-in-law just before the tournament began.
It was more horrifying for Harwar Mulla Mohammed, who converted the first penalty in the semi-final shootout victory over South Korea, as he heard the news of his stepmother’s death just two hours before the match against Vietnam.
“This is normal for us. We are used to this now. Not just the players, but everyone in Iraq,” Tabra added in a calm tone which betrayed the simmering discontent within.
There have been occasions when national teams have been looked up to lift the gloom brought my man or nature with their performance on the field.
Liberia, for example, played in the World Cup qualifiers of 2000-01 amidst a civil war. Argentina followed the next year when a monetary crisis gripped the nation.
Coincidentally, football has also helped heal the wounds of war, even if temporarily, like in 1967 when the Nigerian civil war was halted briefly to receive the Santos team led by Pele.
It continued in the Ivory Coast. World Cup and African Nations Cup success prompted peace talks and resulted in the end of a bloody civil war.
But, sadly, football has also been a cause for many conflicts, diplomatic wrangles and even a brief war. Even minnows Bahrain has been sucked into this vortex: a stray Handycam outside the National Stadium a few years ago before a key match against Japan sparked a spying row and last year Jamaica and Trinidad came close to severing cross-island links in context to a friendly match with the kingdom in the build-up to a World Cup qualifier.
But nothing can match the situation in Iraq, or the predicament of its soccer team. Iraq may have won the battle on Sunday, but, sadly, the war is still on in Baghdad.
By Vijay Mruthyunjaya
vmruthyunjaya@gmail.com
