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Iraq-Jordan
Iraq's plucky soccer team loses chance for gold medal
2004-08-25
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.
...more...

Insha'allah, huh? Okay. Right. Well, nice run anyway, gents!
Posted by:.com

#7  I'm with you guys!
These Iraqis need to lighten way up on the fatalistic "if Allan wills it" and focus on what's real like GRATITUDE for being liberated from tyrannical evil and a sense of reality for who their true friends in the world are.
They wouldn't have been in the Olympics at all if it weren't for OIF as Iraq was suspended from competition for human rights abuses.
Posted by: GreatestJeneration   2004-08-25 7:12:20 PM  

#6  Excellent. May they lose to Italy as well.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2004-08-25 7:02:02 PM  

#5  peggy - God does let one slip thru now and then -- Iran won a gold in weightlifting today.
Posted by: BigEd   2004-08-25 5:55:28 PM  

#4  plucky is why i hate pete rose
Posted by: Half   2004-08-25 5:07:54 PM  

#3  There is justice sometimes.

Mazaltov Israel!
Posted by: peggy   2004-08-25 4:04:22 PM  

#2  Perhaps God is making a statement about a team with at least one guy on it who wishes he too could be killing the soldiers who liberated him and who rid the world of that sadistic torturer Uday.

But according to them its just God's will. End of story. Of course they couldn't have done anything to deserve it. Who can figure out why God would deny good muslims a gold medal? "Beats us", sez all the muslims.

And there we have the problem......
Posted by: peggy   2004-08-25 3:15:27 PM  

#1  "It was the will of God," said Iraq’s coach, Adnan Hamad.

Perhaps God was making a statement to INGRATES who give insulting interviews to "Sports Illustrated"?
Posted by: BigEd   2004-08-25 12:03:43 PM  

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