Soccer: More Than A Game In Iraq
This story was written by CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey.
The playing field is more dirt than grass. There is no netting on the back of the goal. Behind it, the wall surrounding the stadium is pockmarked with bullet holes and shrapnel scars and topped by barbed wire. A mortar hit here a few months ago, killing one young soccer player.
The home ground of Iraq's under-14 national soccer team is a long way from the last major venue they played. That was in Dallas, where the youngsters, courtesy of an American oil company, took part in a tournament. They didn't win, but after the initial disappointment faded, the loss was well overshadowed by the experience.
As they practiced this week for their next game, the youngsters were full of thanks for the hospitality of the American families who took them in, and surprisingly sanguine about being back in a place where just getting to practice means running the gamut of car bombs, abduction gangs and general mayhem.
"I very much liked Dallas and my family," diminutive center forward Hassan Hassan said. "America is very nice, very good towns and streets," Iraq he added, was not so great, but, as he put it with the equanimity of one who knows there's nothing for it but to carry on, "now we are used to it."
The same can't be said for the parents. While American soccer moms and dads might worry about the occasional sprained ankle, just sending your child out the door here is a life-and-death fear.
The team's star striker, Ahmmad Abbass, lives in a small house in the infamous Sadr City area of Baghdad. His father, Marid, says he hates it when Ahmmad goes to practice. "Because of the explosions, the abductions," he said.
Ahmmad shrugs them off. "Those things are a hindrance," he said, "but soccer is the most important thing in my life."
It also became a major factor in Iraqi life when the team went to the United States. A local TV network covered all the games. The team coach, Hassan al-Sa'athi, said he thought the team "united Iraq." and added that, "I would even say terrorist attacks decreased when they played."
It's hard to say how accurate that statement is, but there is no doubt that Iraq's squabbling politicians would do well to emulate its young soccer players. The team is made up of boys from all over the country, Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis, and is an example of how to work together. The boys are well aware of the sectarian divisions that bedevil their country, and shrug them of. "We are soccer players," one said. "That is all we care about."
Indeed, when an American Apache helicopter gunship roared low over the dusty field, not one of the players even looked up. They were too intent on practicing.
By Allen Pizzey