Coach Graham Arnold was carried on the shoulders of the Iraq players, holding an Iraq flag to celebrate in front of the Iraq fans at Monterrey Stadium. Striker Aymen Hussein, who scored the winning goal, sported a black felt cowboy hat, looking like a man from northern Mexico. Fans in Iraq jerseys of all generations cried joyous tears. Their beloved Lions of Mesopotamia are going back to the FIFA World Cup™ for the first time in 40 years.
Arnold, who took charge of the team a little less than a year ago, admitted that it had been a struggle, but it was the spirit of his players that produced this epic qualification.
“It’s pretty hard to think at the moment because I’ve been waiting for this day for four months,” said Arnold to FIFA. “With all the chaos that’s going on in the world at the moment, I sort of lost a little bit my way a bit because I couldn’t go and watch the players play. I was a little bit more distant from the players, but we’ve had a great week of training. I’ve got to give full credit to the players. Their fighting spirit was unreal. They put their body on the line and 46 million people are proud.”
They needed every inch of effort to do it, as the Bolivia attack came in waves in the final 20 minutes. Arnold hailed the composure shown by his team.
“Discipline won it tonight. Very good discipline,” said Arnold. “Defending crosses. That’s what we worked on, and just had Iraqi passion and pride to fight nonstop.”
Defender Merchas Doski echoed the sentiments of his coach, saying that Iraq’s cohesion on the field got them across the finish line.
“It was very tough in the end, but we stick together as one unit until the last second,” said Doski. “We played very smart. We wasted a little bit of time, but that’s normal when it’s for the qualification of the World Cup. We are very happy.”
Midfielder Aimar Sher called those final minutes the most painful of his life, as Bolivia kept piling on the corner kicks. The final whistle offered a release, and brought emotional thoughts of those closest to him.
“I dedicate this to all of my family, they all know how important this was for me and they’ve been through all the difficulties I’ve gone through,” said Sher. “I got my love for football from my dad and I know that he got it from his dad and I know that my grandfather is up in the skies and he’s proud of me. I did this for him.”
Hussein’s winning strike came with the help from some brilliant playmaking from Marko Farji. The winger ran onto a flicked-on header from the veteran striker and played an inch-perfect cross into a spot where he knew Hussein would appear.
“That’s my role as a winger, to help the team score goals, get assists, to win the game and do amazing things,” said Farji. “I looked up and I saw Aymen making a run. We practice this a lot. I tell Aymen all the time when I have the ball, I like to cross. So, I wanted to do it on the first touch, but I took a touch in. Then I saw Aymen running, I put it into him and he’s a clinical finisher. I’m so happy he was there.”
Iraq’s qualification for the global finals will be extra special for Farji, who will take on his birth country, Norway, in their Group I opener on 16 June.
“I’m born and raised in Norway, but my family is from Iraq” said Farji. “I’m both, but I cannot describe how I feel right now. First, I’m so happy, we haven’t qualified in 40 years, a long time. And also to get to play Norway in the first opening game of the World Cup is really a dream.”
