イラクチーム
連日身内に死人が出るような状況で、スンニ派とシーア派とクルド人のプレイヤーの連携とかいったいどうなってるんだろ？と飯時の話題に上ってたけど、やっぱり想像を絶する葛藤があったようです。監督すごいな。
The deciding penalty kick against South Korea on Wednesday was scored by substitute midfielder Ahmed Manajid, a reminder that politics is still never far from the surface when the subject is the Iraqi soccer team.
It was Manajid, you may recall, who told me during the 2004 Olympics that if he wasn't playing soccer he would have been fighting in his native Fallujah as an insurgent against U.S. forces. Manajid was one of several players on that Iraqi team who criticized U.S. president George W. Bush for using the team's success in his campaign speeches that year.
「Al Jazeera English - Focus - Iraq's Journey Continues To Jakarta」よりJorvan Vieira監督：
The 54-year-old also had to unite his players under one flag, as he inherited a squad split by sectarian infighting between Shi'tes and minority Sunni Arabs, as well as Kurds.
"I had problems with the group, there was no kind of unity, the relationship between the players was bad," Vieira said.
"I had to find a solution to this, and got them to like each other and not bring their personal or political differences here.
"We could not have them at war with each other."
韓国の中央日報「＜アジア杯サッカー＞４７年ぶり優勝への道は険しかった」より：
精神力で負けていた試合だった。イラクは戦争に疲弊した国民に勝利の消息を伝えるために歯を食いしばって戦った。トレーニングする所がなく、今回の大会を控えて韓国を訪れたイラクは６月２９日、西帰浦（ソグィポ）で行われた韓国との親善試合で０ー３と大敗した。しかしイラクは坡州（パジュ）国家代表トレーニングセンター（ＮＦＣ）で組織力を整え、最終的に韓国をＰＫ戦で破ったのだ。
そして勝利を祝う群衆へのテロで５０人が死亡。合掌
