HERAKLION, Greece — That gunfire erupted in Baghdad on Thursday night came as no surprise in that war-torn nation. This time, though, the shots were fired in celebration, not anger.
Iraqis everywhere were delightedly praising their Olympic men's soccer team, which, against all odds, defeated Portugal, 4-2, at Pampeloponnisiako Stadium in Patras to open its tournament in spectacular fashion.
The Portuguese, featuring such talented players as Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo and Fulham midfielder Luis Boa Morte, came into the 16-nation Olympic event as one of the medal favorites, along with Argentina and Italy.
As recently as July 4, Ronaldo and Boa Morte had started for the Portugal team that lost to Greece in the final of the 2004 European Championship.
But Thursday evening they and their teammates were no match for an Iraqi side that shrugged off years of deprivation and bloodshed -- after poor performances, Iraqi players were jailed and tortured by Saddam Hussein's son, Uday -- to record a memorable triumph.
At the final whistle, the players raised their arms and applauded the several hundred flag-waving Iraqi fans, most of them living in Greece, who had come to support them.
"All the countries now know there is something to the Iraqi people -- that people in Iraq have a life, that they can do anything for our country," Hussein Saeed, head of the Iraqi Football Assn., said of the victory.
"We are proud of our players. Tonight they put a smile on the faces of all the people in Iraq."
The victory was a reward for a team that was forced to play its home Olympic qualifying matches outside Iraq because opponents, fearing for their safety, were unwilling to travel to Baghdad.
The players also lost their German coach, Bernd Stange, when fighting in Iraq and the kidnapping of foreigners forced him to abandon his post in the midst of the qualifying campaign against Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
"I never got any direct threats," Stange told Associated Press at the time, "but I was told by German authorities that it was best if I left the country.... The situation there is shocking, and it's amazing that the team qualified for Athens."
Even before Thursday's surprise result, hopes were expressed in Athens that there might be a cessation of the car-bombings and other hostilities in Iraq as long as its Olympic team was playing.
