Iraq celebrates victory in Asia Cup

Iraq has made history after defeating rival Saudi Arabia in the Asia Cup Final. Captain Younis Mahmoud led his team to victory, with a header being scored by Hawar Mulla Mohammad in the 71st minute. When the final whistle blew the Iraqi team fell to the ground in a mixture of shock and emotion, kissing the ground and embracing each other. It was a sweet moment, not just for Iraq, not just for the entire arab world...for the world as a whole.
After Iraq's 2-1 victory over South Korea in the semi-final, death hit the streets of Iraq again. Suicide Bombers strikng at exulberant fans and killing many. This time the Iraqi government put a curfew up against all cars and weapons. Apart from small isolated incidents,there were no deaths as Iraqis celebrated across the worlds cities. In Berlin, London, Paris, New York,Abu-Dabai, Jakarta and many other cities Iraqis took to the streets with their flags and celebrated the greatest show of unity since the US led invasion in 2003.
What made this moment so special was not that they beat the Saudis, who have been accused of supplying Sunni insurgents with weaponary, not that they won the cup, which was a momentus thing to do considering they defeated the likes of South Korea and Australia, the best thing was that those 11 men were made up Sunnis, Shia's and kurds. For once the iraqi nation was left undivided by sectarian boundaries, they celebrated as a nation.
Flags were not just Iraqi, many other arab nations celebrated this win. As Abu Basam, a worker in a restuarant in Al Mamzar,Abu Dabei said:

"The whole world is watching this game. We all know that it's more than just a sporting event. It's not about beating Saudi Arabia, but winning the cup. We know the Arab world is celebrating with sus. This cup takes away half of our despair.I just hope the Iraqis get to celebrate in peace" (source Gulf news)

So as the Arab world celebrates, with the rest of the world looking on, many doubt that this will be the end of the sectarian violence among the Iraqis. Some hope, many doubt. Nonetheless, i feel that this was a great achievement for a team who had not the slightest hope of getting honours on Sunday night. The celebrations of Greece winning the European cup did not compare. This is a great moment for sport and the world.

From Abu-Dabei!
Polself