Soccer (that's football, to you) may not be able to save Iraq, but for a few brief hours this weekend, it did bring that broken country together. What a great story -- despite the revelers throwing their Kalashnakovs in the air and waving them like they just don't care, resulting in at least four accidental deaths, not to mention the bombers who were determined to turn the festivity into tragedy, the way a bomber did after Iraq clinched the semifinals. The Iraqi team, known as the "Lions of Mesopotamia," is comprised of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds, who played together as Iraqis, though they had to practice as Jordanians, since it's too dangerous for them to practice at home on one of those soccer fields our troops are risking their lives to construct. And they are an example of what Iraq can be -- plural, unified, and nationalistic beyond the constrictive bounds of sect.
But wait, it gets better...
The guy who scored the winning goal to clinch the 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia? He told the press afterward that U.S. troops should get out of Iraq. Like, yesterday.
Ah, freedom.
Labels: Iraq, Iraq war, soccer, sports |
