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Iraq's plucky soccer team loses chance for gold medal
via AP / SFGate (h/t Lucianne) EFL
DAVID CRARY - (08-24) 14:05 PDT THESSALONIKI, Greece
The Iraqi soccer team's improbable run at an Olympic gold medal ended Tuesday night with a 3-1 semifinal loss to Paraguay. The Iraqis still have a chance for a bronze, which would be their war-weary nation's first medal in 44 years.
| File under signs and portents: They were going great guns until they decided to shoot off their mouths and diss Bush. Karl Rove prob'ly gave 'em the old hairy eyeball and things fell apart for them... |
Paraguay made history of its own, getting two goals from Jose Cardozo and one from Fredy Bareiro to advance to Saturday's gold-medal game against Argentina, a 3-0 winner over Italy. Gold or silver, it will be the first Olympic medal of any sort for Paraguay. Iraq and Italy will play for the bronze Friday night. "It was the will of God," said Iraq's coach, Adnan Hamad. "We had lots of chances, but it did not happen for us."
| It was the hairy eyeball that dunnit. Shoulda looked up the definition of "gratitude." |
Just qualifying for the Olympics was a feat for the Iraqis, who have been unable to play home games since war began in March 2003. They clinched a berth in May, just three months after their country was reinstated by the International Olympic Committee.
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Insha'allah, huh? Okay. Right. Well, nice run anyway, gents!
Posted by: .com 2004-08-25 |
