Mother of all starts for Iraq

They stood and cheered and chanted, almost danced as they waved. All the turmoil, all the dark torture from the past, is momentarily a world...

They stood and cheered and chanted, almost danced as they waved. All the turmoil, all the dark torture from the past, is momentarily a world away. The Iraqi Olympic men’s soccer team pulled off something remarkable on a muggy Thursday night, something unimaginable just two years ago.

It had competed in the Olympics. That it had qualified at all caused celebration and gunfire in the streets of Baghdad. When Iraq became the final team to qualify for the Olympic soccer tournament, Ahmed Al-Samarrai, president of their National Olympic Committee, called it the ‘‘biggest moment in Iraq’s Olympic history’’.

Not any longer.

Not after Iraq stunned Portugal — whose national team had just played in the European Cup final — with a 4-2 victory.

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During the US occupation, it struggled to put a full squad together for practice. Yet the team was here and supported from the moment it took the Pampeloponnisiako Stadium floor by a couple of thousand cheering Iraqis.

The Iraqi crowd had the best seats in the house, right at midfield. Many wore t-shirts that read ‘Iraq’ in English. They clapped hands over their heads, raised the red, white and black Iraq flag, chanted ‘Eee-rack’; all before the game even began.

Then the scoring opened with an own-goal by Iraq’s Haidar Jabbar in the 13th minute. During the reign of Saddam Hussein and his son Uday, that might have left Jabbar the most frightened man in Greece, if not the world. Failure meant cruel punishment, and reportedly even death. Uday carried an electric prod and wasn’t shy about using it. Athletes who failed in his eyes were reportedly tortured in the 30-cell basement of the Olympic building.

But Thursday became a party, and falling behind to Portugal offered only a momentary pause. Soon Emad Mohammed tied the score and then a header by Hawar Mulla Mohammed gave Iraq the lead. Portugal tied it just before half, but Iraq and its fans were undeterred.

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‘‘We will win today, and then play the Americans,’’ yelled one Iraqi fan. ‘‘No problem.’’

Iraq caught a break when Portugal’s Boa Morte drew a questionable red card and played with a man advantage the rest of the night. Soon Younis Mahmoud scored to give Iraq back the lead.

There was a final goal in the last minute, and then a genuine celebration. The Iraq team walked off holding hands. Its fans could not have appeared happier if they had just won the gold medal. Something besides war and torture and uncertainty was finally at hand, and completely embraced. There were no illusions that a fractured world had been made right. But in a country desperately in need of hope, sports had given a reprieve from death and terror and offered a glimpse of better days. Uday is dead now. Hussein’s reign over. An ancient country struggles to begin again. On a muggy night in Greece, it finally had reason to celebrate.

(The New York Times)