Americans are not big fans of a sport called soccer (known as football to everyone else), so it was quite a shock to see mainstream US newspapers and television stations covering a soccer victory in Iraq. Those three words -soccer, victory and Iraq- make for one of the most unexpectedly positive stories out of that nation in years.

Any good news out of Iraq is surprising, yet particularly cherished by politicians from the right side of the political spectrum. For Republicans it highlights a glimmer of hope to an outrageously complicated conflict that is slipping out of their hands. It's a chance to prove to Americans that good things do happen in Iraq, despite what the media and reality say.

For Americans, and the world in general though, this soccer victory in Iraq showed that it is possible for the Iraqi people to come together as Iraqis. This notion is debated and disproved often. As an American who lives in a country where people speak Spanish exclusively and stores signs can be written in Korean, the idea of diversity and acceptance is not foreign. But in Iraq this is not the case.

Iraq's national team, known as the Lions of the Two Rivers, beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 to win the 2007 Asian Cup on July 29th in Jakarta, Indonesia. According to FIFA world rankings, the Lions are currently ranked 80, while Saudi Arabia is ranked 61 (Chile is 47 and the US is 14.) Saudi Arabia's national team has won the cup three times previously, so the Iraqi team was a true underdog.

The Iraqi win was a highly emotional event throughout the nation, and in many areas of the world where Iraqi refugees have been displaced. As I watched the World Cup 2006 last summer, I saw fans cry after their teams had won a round but imagine this victory through the eyes of an Iraqi.

Imagine a win for a country that has lost so much, and continues to loose on a daily basis. So many lives, so many futures and so much time is lost as this conflict continues. It's overwhelming to try to imagine the moment when the winning goal was scored and the announcer declared that Iraq had won.

The win sent Iraqis into the streets in excitement and sheer joy. Gun shots blasted throughout the air in love and faith, not in violence and hatred as is so typical. The players were national heroes, to men and women of all ages, and most importantly to Iraqis of all faiths.

The team is composed of Sunnis, Shias and Kurds. While many people call an Iraq where these three faiths work and live together idealistic, the Sunnis, Shias and Kurds who compose Iraq's national soccer team do learn, train and play together.

The goal scored by Yunis Mohmoud which gave the Iraqis the Asian Nations Cup 2007.

In fact, the winning goal was scored by Younis Mohmoud who happens to be Captain of the team and a Sunni. Mohmoud scored the winning goal with an assist from Hawer Mohammed, a Kurd. The goal keeper who kept Saudi Arabia from scoring, Noor Sabri, is a Shia.

If you didn't think it was possible for these three groups to get along, it is. Even in the most unique of situations, it happened. All it takes is one example to get Iraqis, and the world, to believe in and understand the importance of a united Iraq.

The Iraqi people face great odds in their everyday lives so it should come as no surprise to find that their national soccer team would have to play hard to bring their nation a victory. But they did. They've overcome not simply enormous odds, but some of the world's most daunting.

For one, three coaches were offered the position to coach the Iraqi team and they declined. It was a Brazilian, Jorvan Vieira who accepted the challenge. Then the team had to overcome the fact that every team member had a relative or friend who had died during the Iraqi conflict. Even more startlingly, after the victory some players were afraid to return to Iraq because they feared for their lives.

The list of struggles that Iraq must overcome never stops growing. And in the days following Iraq's victory, the headlines once again turned negative. A mass amount of weaponry went missing, Iraqi ministers threaten to leave, or left, Iraq's cabinet, and the story of if and when American troops should leave Iraq is ever present. Everything has returned to normal, to negative, despite the amazing victory the world viewed.

This victory was not just about sports and not about soccer. It was about the simple things that we, across the Atlantic, take for granted. Things such as the ability to celebrate proudly and vocally, and most importantly without fear, when our national football heroes make us proud. And the opportunity our players have to return home and feel the pride of their nation for their accomplishments.

These are a few of the things that Iraqis got a taste for with their national victory in July. One can only hope that that the sensation made Iraqis eager for more and closer to being able to sacrifice personal pride and differences for the greater good of Iraq.

Read in Spanish.

Foto: thischanginglife