On Thursday, in the northern city of Irbil, the Iraqi national football side defeated Palestine 3-0.  This was the first match played by the Iraqi team on its own soil since a 2-1 victory over Syria in 2002, before the US-led invasion.  Irbil, with a population of around 1.2 million people, is the 3rd largest city in Iraq, after Baghdad and Mosul, and is the capital of the Kurdish Autonomous Region.  It is about 80km east of Mosul.  It is also believed to be one of the oldest and longest settled urban areas in the world, dating back to roughly 2000 BCE.

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Since the invasion, the Iraqi football team has led a nomadic existence, and has been relatively successful, winning the 2007 Asian Cup, defeating Saudi Arabia, though it flamed out in the 3rd round of qualifying for the World Cup in South Africa next year.  The Iraqis are currently ranked 94th in the FIFA rankings, sandwiched between Iceland and Albania.  Palestine, for its part, is 175th.  

The match in Irbil attracted fans from around Iraq, and is being hailed as a symbol of better things to come, both for the nation and the team.  Before the match, the Iraqi players released doves as a symbol of peace.  

There is a tendency to dismiss sport as unimportant, but I beg to differ.  Sport is an important part of culture and life, and national team sports can and are used to unify a population, and to bring pride to the nation.  And for Iraq, the football team has long been a source of pride, even though it has faced adversity for much of the past 30 years.  It was forced to play most of its matches in the 1980s at neutral sites due to the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussein and his son, Uday, did a number on the side.  During Uday's reign of terror, players who missed practices were threatened with imprisonment and forced amputations of their legs, as well as more general forms of torture.  And yet, the team managed to qualify for the World Cup in 1986, to finish 4th at the Olympics last year, and, as noted, win the 2007 Asian Cup.  And as with all nations, Iraqis have supported their side when given the chance, as evidenced at Irbil Thursday night.