Iraq lost to Italy in the Bronze Medal soccer game in Athens yesterday. While the loss to Itlay was disappointing it was seen for what it was, the culmination of a hugely successful Olympic effort by Iraq, itself a victory. As most of the crowd quietly filed out of the hotel lounge after Italy beat Iraq 1-0 in the Olympic bronze-medal match, Fadil Jabel was willing to proclaim the outcome a victory of sorts.
"It's not a poor performance," said the 24-year-old, puffing apple-scented tobacco on a water pipe. "It's not a small thing that we won fourth place."
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The crowd jumped, cheered and banged on tables for Iraqi successes: a blocked shot, a stolen ball.
"There is no fear," said Wasim Sadoun, 23, a ventilation contractor. "The most important thing is the players are not afraid. So they're taking risks."
Gone are the days when Uday Hussein, the dictator's son and head of Iraq's Olympic Committee, would micromanage the team's strategy and punish players who made mistakes with imprisonment or torture.
After one player missed a goal with a high ball, Sadoun wryly noted that under the old regime, "Even if they win, he would go to prison. Now he would be thinking only of prison."
The consensus was that, whatever the match's outcome, the team was improving. The equipment is better. New blood is joining the team. And the players are more daring.
"This is a first for us," Jabel said. "We are playing for a medal against a European team. In the future, I am sure we will get better, day by day."
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