Iraq's dreams of soccer gold end with semifinal loss to Paraguay
Gold or silver, Paraguay is assured of its first Olympics medal of any sort.
THESSALONIKI, Greece -- The chance for Olympic gold is gone for Iraq's overachieving soccer team, but its players emerged from a semifinal loss with their pride intact and hopes still alive for a bronze medal to delight their beleaguered fans at home.
More experienced, more opportunistic, Paraguay ended Iraq's improbable run with a 3-1 victory Tuesday night and advanced 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; for Iraq, it would be the first medal since 1960 and only the second ever.
"We missed a lot of opportunities, but Paraguay was better on this day," said Iraq's coach, Adnan Hamad. "Now we'll try to win the bronze -- a success of that magnitude will be uplifting for our country in its difficult situation."
Quick transformation
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.
The team's first-round victories over Portugal and Costa Rica and quarterfinal win over Australia enchanted fans worldwide and gave war-weary Iraqi citizens a rare cause for unified jubilation. Players said they were inspired by the support from home, but also sobered by knowledge of their compatriots' hardships.
The Iraqis played with pluck, outshooting Paraguay 21-16 and forcing goalkeeper Diego Barreto to make several acrobatic saves. But they could not contain Jose Cardozo, at 34 one of the oldest players in the tournament.
Cardozo, a forward for Toluca in the Mexican League, opened the scoring at the 17th minute, taking a pass off his chest and, as an Iraqi defender tugged him down by his jersey, angling a low shot into the corner past Iraqi goalkeeper Nour Sabri.
"That had a big influence" Hamad said. "My players wanted very much to win, but that first goal let them down."
Cardozo scored again 34 minutes into the half, ricocheting a shot off Sabri's leg into the net after the Iraqi defense relaxed, believing Cardozo would be called offsides.
Political comments
Hamad, in remarks to reporters over the past week, had criticized the U.S. occupation of Iraq and blamed the devastation in his country on President Bush -- who is taking credit for Iraq's return to the Olympics in his re-election advertising.
Officials running Tuesday's post-match news conference sought to limit non-soccer questions, but Hamad did manage to appeal for the release of an Italian journalist held by kidnappers in Iraq. Unprompted, the coach then elaborated on his feelings toward Americans.
"We have nothing against the American people, or any other people, even though our country is destroyed," he said. "We are sad, for sure, that some of our women and children were killed."