TOUGH IRAQ IN FINAL GROUP TIE

Young team cannot afford to squander any chances

WITH murder and torture in their country’s football history‚ Iraq are expected to give South Africa a tough ride in their must-win final Group A game at the men’s Olympic tournament at Sao Paulo’s Arena Corinthians tonight.

The match kicks off at 10pm in Brazil (3am tomorrow in South Africa). Iraqi football has a reputation for resilience. It should.

It has survived – and continued to be competitive – through the eight-year Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s in which a 1.5 million people perished.

Even against the backdrop of some of the worst violence that followed the fall of Saddam Hussein in the 2003 US-led invasion‚ Iraq’s national team managed to win the 2007 AFC Asian Cup‚ beating Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the final.

Under Saddam‚ his son, Uday as chairman of the Iraqi Olympic Committee and of the Football Association reportedly imprisoned and tortured athletes and footballers who did not perform.

He had footballers beaten with a stick on the soles of their feet so the effects would not be publicly noticeable.

He kept detailed records of who had been tortured‚ how many times‚ and how many more beatings should be handed out.

Making a strong argument for Iraq’s potential at these Olympics‚ pan-Arab news website Al Arabiya’s columnist Ali Khaled wrote: “In their excellent 2009 book, Why England Lose: and Other Curious Football Phenomena Explained‚ the football writer Simon Kuper and sports economist Stefan Szymanski used statistics from 1980 to 2001 to determine the world’s most overachieving football nations. The results were eye-opening.

“‘[The] country that stands out most, given what it has to work with, is Iraq‚’ Kuper and Szymanski wrote. ‘If the country ever sorts itself out‚ then watch out‚ world.’

“Since then‚ the country’s troubles have continued‚ yet Iraq have continued punching above their weight‚ putting to shame countries flushed with better funding and facilities‚ not to mention socio-political stability.

“Witness disappointing performances in recent years of two supposed football superpowers in England and Brazil‚ and the hysterical reaction of the public in those countries. By comparison‚ Iraq rarely‚ if ever‚ disappoint their supporters.” It is against this competitive‚ almost fanatical, winning mentality that South Africa must pit themselves, needing a win against Iraq in their final game.

Like South Africa‚ who had solid preparations winning the Cosafa Cup in Namibia in June‚ Iraq came into the tournament well-drilled from a camp in Munich, then lost against Algeria and beat South Korea in their warm-up friendlies in Brazil.

Also like South Africa‚ Iraq have high hopes for their current emerging generation.

Among their star performers are the Udinese left-back Ali Adnan‚ forward Sherko Kareem of Grasshoppers in Switzerland‚ and Turkish-based defender or midfielder Dhurgham Ismael.

In keeping with their tenacious nature, coach Abdul-Ghani Shahad took seven defenders among his 18-man squad to the Olympics.

So it is no surprise Iraq have drawn 0-0 against Denmark and Brazil.

For goal-shy South Africa‚ chances might be hard to come by and Young Bafana cannot afford to strike the post twice with any that they do get.

[The] country that stands out most, given what it has to work with, is Iraq. If the country ever sorts itself out‚ then watch out‚ world