Iraqi soccer fans celebrate end of 40-year World Cup drought Iraqi soccer fans celebrate end of 40-year World Cup drought Text-Only Version Go To Full Site By Jasmine Garsd, Liz Baker In this Michigan soccer town where people take the game seriously, excitement is in the air for the World Cup, and especially for one team in particular: Iraq. The Lions of Mesopotamia, as the team is nicknamed, haven't qualified for the World Cup since 1986, so long ago that generations of Iraqis have never seen their team compete in the world's most prominent tournament. That's the case for 34 year-old Esho, who emigrated from Iraq to Michigan as a kid. But he remembers how, back in his home country, soccer was the only thing that could bring the diverse nation's ethnic and religious groups together even in times of war and unrest. "Even you see it now," says Esho, marveling at the way the team's victory in the World Cup qualifiers electrified Dearborn's large Iraqi diaspora. "When they play, you have people from the South, from the North, from the West, from the East, all gathering together to watch the game." Yes, he smiles knowingly, Iraq is playing in a group with teams that are so good some have dubbed it a "Group Of Death": Norway, Senegal and France. But he says making it this far is what counts. "If they win one game, one game, which I am sure they will, Iraq fans will go crazy." Whether you call it soccer, futbol, or kurut alqadam, in most of the world it's more than just a sport: it's like a religion, one that is getting more and more converts in the U.S. Waad Sana, the owner of a store called Soccer World, says it wasn't always this way. In 1976, when he migrated to the U.S. from Iraq as a teenager, one of the first things he wanted to do was play ball. He went to a sports store, "and I asked the associate: 'Do you have football?' He comes in and he brings me the brown football. I said, 'What the heck is this?' I thought he was making fun of me." These days, Sana says the store gets about 100 calls per day asking for Iraqi national team jerseys (there's a waitlist). Sana says he went to see Iraq the last time the team played in the World Cup in Mexico in 1986. The experience is what inspired him to open this store. That feels like a lifetime ago. "Imagine for 40 years, that's 10 tries to qualify for the World Cup, and Iraq [failing] at it," says Sana. "And now we made it. For me to see that love and passion, it gives you goosebumps." He's even got some vintage Iraqi soccer chants ready to teach the kids. "Even if they're like 6 years old, they know," says Abbas Alwishah, director of Michigan FC, a youth league that attracts kids of all ages from Detroit's diverse immigrant communities. "Their parents watch it, and they hear about it in the community," Alwishah says, as his team of middle-school-aged players run warm up drills under the sweltering summer sun. "To them it's like their heritage." It's not just Michiganders of Iraqi heritage who are rooting for Iraq this summer. Fans of all nationalities are cheering for the underdog. Sixteen-year-old Fatima Alzahraa Yazdchi is originally from Kuwait, which did not qualify for the World Cup. But without hesitation, she lists her bracket in this World Cup: Cristiano Ronaldo, Iran and definitely Iraq. "I feel like that's a big milestone for them. This should be an exciting World Cup." On game days, she'll be watching on TV with her dad, who she says taught her most of her soccer skills and her passion for the game. "Gotta see them win!" Fatima grins, before rejoining the rest of the girls' team for one-on-one drills. At the very least fans will see Iraq play a good game, which is a victory 40 years in the making. AILSA CHANG, HOST: Iraq is playing today in the World Cup, its first match of the tournament and its first World Cup match in 40 years. Now, Iraq is not alone. A lot of countries are competing in this tournament for the first time in a long time. NPR's Jasmine Garsd spoke to Iraq national team fans about what this moment means.(SOUNDBITE OF CLAPPING)UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER PLAYER #1: Push in (ph).JASMINE GARSD, BYLINE: I'm in Dearborn, Michigan, the state with the largest Iraqi American population in the U.S. And let me tell you something - this town takes its soccer seriously. I'm at a match for a local league, the Iraqi Chaldean League. It's the first game of the summer, and things are getting heated. One of the goalies is yelling so much you'd think this was an actual World Cup match.(CHEERING)GARSD: Sitting on the sidelines, 34-year-old Zee Esho says growing up in Iraq, soccer was part of everyday life, even during a time of conflict.ZEE ESHO: It was the only thing that would bring everybody in. Soccer was, like - even if you see it now. Like, when they play, you have, like, people from the South, from the North, from the West, from the East all gathering together to watch the game.GARSD: Esho hadn't even been born the last time Iraq qualified to play a World Cup, in 1986. He says Iraq playing in this 2026 cup has brought this whole community together. And yes, he knows Iraq is in a group with teams that are so good some have dubbed it a group of death - Norway, Senegal, France. Oh, my. But he says...ESHO: If they win one game - one game - which I'm sure they will, Iraqis fan (ph) will go crazy.GARSD: Like most people we speak to out here, he can't afford to go to the games, not with the lowest ticket price hovering at around a thousand dollars. But he will be watching every game closely because whatever you call it, soccer, futbol or kurut alqadam is more than just a sport. In most of the world it's like a religion, and here in the U.S. it's getting more converts.WAAD SANA: I'm sending you two U.S. medium, two U.S. large, three U.S. extra large.GARSD: Waad Sana is the owner of a store called Soccer World. He came to the U.S. from Iraq as a kid in 1976. And one of the first things he wanted to do, of course, was play ball. So he went to a sports store.SANA: And I walked in and I asked associate, do you have football? So he'd bring me that brown football football. And I looked at it. I said, what the heck is this? He goes, that's football (laughter). I thought he was just, like, making fun of me.GARSD: Compare that to now. His store has a wait list for Iraqi national team jerseys. Every day, they say they get about a hundred calls asking, hey, when is the shipment arriving? Sana says he went to see Iraq the last time they played, in 1986 in Mexico. It's what inspired him to open this store. That feels like a very long time ago, he says.SANA: So imagine for 40 years, though, that's 10 tries of trying to qualify for the World Cup, and Iraq fail at it. And now, finally we made it. For me to see that love and that passion, it gives you a goose bump.GARSD: He's even ready to dust off some old soccer chants.SANA: Hey, hey, hey, (non-English language spoken). It means, hey, hey, hey, we're going to score a goal. The Iraqi kids, they all know that. But maybe the foreign kids, I have to teach it to them, yes (laughter).GARSD: And he might have to, because it's not just people with Iraqi heritage who are rooting for Iraq here in Dearborn.(SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLE BLOWING)UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER PLAYER #2: No, attack the ball. Attack the ball.(SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLE BLOWING)UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER PLAYER #3: Good job.UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER PLAYER #4: Thanks.GARSD: Fatima Alzahraa Yazdchi from Kuwait is 16, and she loves soccer so much - even on this sweltering summer day - she's out in the sun practicing with her team, Michigan F.C., a free youth soccer club.FATIMA ALZAHRAA YAZDCHI: I had this passion for soccer, I guess. I learned most of my skills from my dad, actually.GARSD: Fatima's bracket in this World Cup is Cristiano Ronaldo, Iran and definitely Iraq.FATIMA: I feel like that's a big milestone for them. Like, this should be a very exciting World Cup.(SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLE BLOWING)GARSD: And with that, she heads back to her drills. Come game day, she'll be watching on TV with her dad and grandfather.FATIMA: I got to see them win.GARSD: Or at the very least, play a good game. That in itself is already a victory 40 years in the making.(SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLE BLOWING)GARSD: Jasmine Garsd, NPR News, Dearborn, Michigan.(SOUNDBITE OF NIKI SONG, "EVERY SUMMERTIME") Links
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