Iraq crashes out of the World Cup qualifiers
In the midst of Euro fever, there was sad news for the millions of Iraqi fans as their national team crashed out of World Cup qualifying contention beaten by Qatar.
A draw would have sufficed to get them to the final round of qualifiying.
For the Iraqis, their national team was one of the few unifying forces that brought the various warring sects together, laying down their differences to answer the call of their common passion.
Just ten days ago, the team was flying high as they eliminated China from the race through a 2-1 win through goals by Nashat Akram and Emad Ridha. A few weeks earlier, the Iraqis had defeated the Socceroos, arguably the toughest team in Asia, 1-0 through a sizzling free kick by Emad Mohammad.