The power of sport

[TexasTiger 13,006]

As trite as it may sound, they need more soccer victories.

The Iraqi victory against the three-time Asian Cup champions was a precious moment of shared national joy in a country beset by civil strife.

"Now it is our right to enjoy this victory that our heroic team has brought to us. They have brought us joy that we never experienced in the past, when we suffered greatly," said Haidar Mustafa, a Baghdad student.

Around him in a downtown coffee shop, dozens of fans leapt and sang with joy after seeing skipper Younis Mahmoud's powerful header seal a first Asian Cup victory for his mixed team of Sunni Arabs, Shiite Arabs and Kurds.

From the southern Shiite port city of Basra, to executed Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein's northern hometown of Tikrit and even to Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region, flag-waving crowds celebrated.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=07...;show_article=1

[AURaptor 1,126]

Opiate of the masses.....Iraqi soccer fans ignored their sectarian differences and joined in on a nation wide street party.

Long over due, I'd say.