HANOI, 27 July 2007 — Saudi national football team coach Brazilian Helios dos Anjos says his side’s resilient victory over Japan proves that luck has had nothing to do with their charge into the Asian Cup final.
Dos Anjos has had to fend off persistent criticism back home in Riyadh that his team have rode their luck through the tournament rather than stamping their mark on it.
But the big Brazilian said the fighting 3-2 semifinal win over Japan on Wednesday was the perfect riposte to the cynics.
“One thing that I have heard throughout this tournament is that we have been lucky,” he said.
“Luck might happen in one game but not in every game and we have answered the people that have said we have been lucky.” The victory went down well in Saudi Arabia with people pouring onto the streets waving flags and dancing, with long convoys of cars winding through Riyadh and Jeddah, fans honking horns, singing and yelling.
Dos Angos paid tribute not just to his players, but also to the backroom staff he brought with him from Brazil for ensuring the team was in peak condition. “We told the (Saudi Arabian) federation that I would bring the best fitness and medical staff from Gremio club in Brazil,” he said.
“And even though we had less time to prepare for this match and trouble traveling from Jakarta this victory (over Japan) was the fruit of their labor.” The 49-year-old, who took over from compatriot Marcos Paqueta in March, must now prime his side for their final encounter in Jakarta on Sunday with Iraq, managed by another Brazilian in Jorvan Vieira.
“It has been a victory for Arabian football, especially for Iraq because everyone knows what is happening there,” he said of the unexpected all-Arab final. “These victories will bring happiness to the people of Iraq and of Saudi Arabia.”
Iraqi Players on Emotional Rollercoaster
In Kula Lumpur, the Iraqi team are on an emotional rollercoaster after reaching their first Asian Cup final as it took a bloody toll back home where at least 50 celebrating fans were killed.
Iraq shocked the more fancied South Korea 4-3 in a penalty shootout after it was scoreless after extra time on Wednesday to put them on the brink of their greatest footballing achievement.
They had only got as far as the semifinals in 1976 and lost in their last three consecutive quarterfinals at the Asian Cup, but now travel to Jakarta for the final against Saudi Arabia. “Everyone is happy and we have reason to be happy because this victory brings us to the final and we deserved that,” said Iraq’s coach Vieira, who has been in charge for less than two months.
“My boys have worked very hard.”
An emotional Vieira said the victory was for “the people of Iraq because they deserve it.”
Thousands of Iraqis wearing team jerseys and waving national flags poured on to the streets of Baghdad cheering and firing assault rifles wildly into the air after the match to celebrate a rare moment of shared joy.
Goalkeeper Noor Sabri was Iraq’s hero, making a crucial save in the penalty shootout to steer his side into the final, and he dedicated his team’s fighting spirit to his beleaguered compatriots in his war-ravaged homeland.
Noor illustrated the grim personal cost his teammates have endured to play at the Asian Cup and how they are doing their bit in lifting spirits for those suffering in the Iraq civil conflict.
“Four days before we came to Bangkok my wife’s brother died and my teammate Hawar Mohammed lost his stepmother,” he said.
“We know we are struggling inside Iraq and we are struggling on the playing field because it is a very modest thing we can give to our people.
“We have to struggle, we have to show them that we are sharing all what we are achieving here. But this is historic for football in our country.” It is testament to the players that they have got so far in the tournament with so little preparation amid the chaos in their homeland.
