Iraq wins Asia cup, and I'm so happy for the glimmer of joy it will no doubt give the Iraqi people.
A policeman says it nicely in this CNN article
http://www.cnn.com/...
"Those heroes have shown the real Iraq. They have done something useful for the people as opposed to the politicians and lawmakers who are stealing or killing each other," said Sabah Shaiyal, a 43-year-old policeman in Baghdad. "The players have made us proud, not the greedy politicians. Once again, our national team has shown that there is only one, united Iraq."
I really don't have much of substance to add. I'll delete this if someone with more knowledge comes along with a good diary on the victory.
However, whatever the future of Iraq may be, this is a joyful event, and I hope you will all share in a moment of hope and pride for Iraq.
It may sound ridiculous to some here, but I really believe that this win is the biggest hope for Iraqi unity...and it may help in the transition of Americans out of the country.
From pernoclone in comments, a great quote from the coach:
Elation was juxtaposed against the tragedy in the players' homeland. Coach Jorvan Vieira and Mahmoud wore black armbands during the postgame news conference to commemorate the dozens of fans killed back home during celebrations following Wednesday's semifinal victory over South Korea.
"It's very clear, from our arms, our respect to the people who died when we put Korea out of the competition," Vieira said. "This victory we offer to the families of those people."
Vieira, who is Brazilian, resigned after the game.
"I have worked my best to give happiness to the Iraqi people, to bring a warm smile to their lips and my mission is accomplished," Vieira said. "The satisfaction is doubled when you can get this cup and you bring happiness for a country, not just a team. It's more important than anything."
Update
From the NY Times blog
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/...
Abu Baqir, one of the celebrating men, said: "Congratulations to everybody. This is the greatest sign of Iraqi unity. Congratulations to all Iraqis. You can see the national feeling, it has always been there, and we hope this winning will be the beginning of the end of sectarianism. This team includes Shiite, Sunnis and Kurds, it is a team of all Iraqis.
This is looking really wonderful...and, yes, I know there will be violence--but, look, people, there's horrible violence every godforsaken day there, so it can't take away from this great day.