Graham Arnold breaks Iraq’s 40-year World Cup drought with historic victory
Graham Arnold believes in omens.
At the time Guus Hiddink was assistant coach of the Socceroos, Germany were trying to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1974. They did it, and Australia’s long drought ended in Germany 2006.
So when Iraq was sent to Mexico for a World Cup qualifier against Bolivia, Arnold took it as a message from the universe. After all, Mexico was where the Mesopotamian Lions made their debut on football’s biggest stage in 1986.
This isn’t the first time Arnold’s superstition has been confirmed. Forty years later, his magic touch led to a historic 2-1 victory that changed the mood of a nation.
Public servants in Iraq were told they could report to work a little later than usual on Wednesday morning; so that they and the rest of the country’s 46 million football obsessives can watch the match in Monterrey that will decide the last remaining berth in the most anticipated World Cup in their history. They were not disappointed.
Now, for the first time in 40 years, they have a World Cup to look forward to; That journey will begin on June 16 against Erling Haaland’s Norway and continue against their other Group I rivals France and Senegal.
That’s exactly what Arnold set out to do when he accepted the job as Iraq’s head coach in May, eight years after trying to secure his services.
Job done: Arnold now has a history of his own; He became the first Australian coach to take charge of two men’s World Cups and the first coach to go there with another country.
As the players hoisted Arnold on their shoulders in celebration, the former Socceroos boss proudly waved the Iraqi flag in front of his enthusiastic fans.
Reaching Estadio BBVA was an achievement in itself. The war in Iran closed the airspace in Iraq and Arnold, who was stranded in Dubai for 10 days as bombs fell near his hotel, worried about how his players would get there.
He initially petitioned FIFA to postpone the play-offs before the World Cup, and although this did not happen, public pressure galvanized the world governing body into action and they helped facilitate their safe passage from Iraq to Jordan (after a 20-hour bus journey) and from there via Lisbon to Monterrey on a chartered flight.
The disrupted introduction hurt their preparations, but Iraq’s players dug deeper with Arnold’s encouragement to do it for their country, and beyond that, for themselves and their families.
Accordingly, a tough struggle was waged. Iraq started the game with midfield chief Amir Al-Ammari hitting the goal post in the ninth minute, with the Bolivian goalkeeper pushing his shot towards the crossbar.
However, from the corner perfectly taken by Al-Ammari, striker Ali Al-Hamadi headed the ball from close range, giving them a 1-0 advantage.
Bolivia responded seven minutes before half-time when Moises Paniagua collected his teammate’s long-range attempt and then shot himself from just outside the six-yard box, slotting the ball over Iraq goalkeeper Ahmed Basil Fadhil.
However, Arnold turned the match in Iraq’s favor by making a double substitution at halftime due to Youssef Amyn’s injury.
Marko Farji, who came on as a substitute a few minutes after entering the fray, found space on the right wing and crossed for his captain Aymen Hussein to send the ball into the net.
After enduring a late Bolivian siege, the happy sound of the full-time whistle at the end of the 899th and final match of the cup qualifiers created an explosion of emotion on the pitch, in Iraq and among Iraqi fans in the expanding diaspora around the world.
To them, Arnold is now a hero, a man who has accomplished things many coaches before him have not.
