The “Lions of Mesopotamia” are back.
Following years of toil and torment, the war-ravaged Iraq, still battling internal conflicts, is back in the football landscape.
When Graham Arnold’s men take on Erling Haaland and his fellow Norwegians at the Boston Stadium on Tuesday (3.30 am IST, Wednesday), it will mark Iraq’s first Fifa World Cup clash in 40 years.
The last and only occasion when Iraq featured in the World Cup, they had suffered a group-stage exit, losing to Paraguay, Belgium and hosts Mexico in 1986. To seal a Cup berth in the ongoing edition, the Iraqis had to slog it out over the course of more than two years and 21 matches.
Skill-wise, Team Iraq may well be a few steps behind Norway, twice world champions France and Senegal in Group I. But in mental resilience, it will be a mistake to underestimate the Iraqi footballers, who are banking on the Ghairah (unwavering fighting spirit, pride and honour) to show mettle.
Having spent almost the entire phase of their Asian qualifying cycle in gruelling, high-temperature desert environments, cardiovascular endurance is a massive strength of the players, who are training in West Virginia ahead of their Cup opener.
But not everything is going well for the Iraqi contingent in the US. Seasoned striker Aymen Hussein and a team photographer, Talal Salah, were detained at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport earlier this month. The US customs and border patrol agents questioned Hussein for seven hours before he was allowed into the country, but the team photographer was denied entry due to “vetting concerns.”
But come what may, the Iraqis won’t back down. “We always find a way back,” midfielder Amir Al Ammari summed up in a recent interview with fifa.com.
Experience & exposure
Quite a few of these Iraqi players have experience of playing in the European leagues. Iraq have a Zidane — Iqbal, not Zinedine — in their midfield, who is a product of the Manchester United youth project.
Iqbal, whose father Aamir is a Pakistani, made one official appearance for United’s first team in their Champions League group-stage game against Young Boys in December 2021. At present, he plays for the Netherlands-based Utrecht.
Striker Ali Al Hamadi, previously on loan at Luton Town, is now part of Ipswich Town. Al Ammari plays for Poland’s Cracovia, while Merchas Doski, scorer of the equaliser in Iraq’s warm-up game against Spain, is with Viktoria Plzen of Czechia.
There are others too playing in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The exposure these footballers have had should help Iraq on the big stage.
Ethnic harmony
The 1986 Cup Iraqi squad did feature a few players of the Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian (indigenous ethnic group from Syria, Iran and Turkey) origin, but there weren’t any Kurdish footballers in that team. This time, however, left-back Doski, attacking midfielder Youssef Amyn, central defender Akam Hashim and Norway-born striker Marko Farji represent the Kurdish community.
So are defender Rebin Sulaka, along with midfielders Frans Putros, Kevin Yakob and Aimar Sher, who constitute the Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian group. “… Really proud of what we’ve achieved as a team, as a group and as brothers. This really does feel like a family,” Al Ammari states.
It’s a team game, after all.
