- Entire nation is celebrating after win on Wednesday
Australia’s biggest Iraqi community waved flags from car roofs, danced on tables and saluted Graham Arnold after he masterminded Iraq’s passage to their first World Cup in 40 years.
In Fairfield in Sydney’s west on Wednesday, crowds of expat Iraqis crammed around TV screens in cafes and restaurants before bursting into celebration when referee Ivan Barton blew the full-time whistle following a 2-1 play-off win over Bolivia in Monterrey, Mexico.
Goals from Ali Al Hamadi and Aymen Hussein helped Iraq reach just their second World Cup after a previous appearance in 1986.
‘I feel so happy, I’ve been waiting 40 years for this moment and we deserve to be there and I’m so proud of our team,’ said fan Jon Georgess.
‘I said when he (Arnold) came to coach Iraq, I knew he was going to take us there.’
Arnold, who stood down as the Socceroos coach 18 months ago, became the first Australian manager to qualify for a men’s World Cup with another country.
Graham Arnold masterminded Iraq’s passage to their first World Cup in 40 years (pictured, after beating Bolivia)
Speaking at full-time, a jubilant Arnold declared: ‘We’ve made 46 million people happy’
The Lions of Mesopotamia’s long absence from the World Cup led Arnold to describe the Iraqi job as ‘one of the toughest’ in world football.
But after resuscitating their qualification campaign the 62-year-old was feted by Australian-Iraqis.
‘I’m 26 and born here and it’s an amazing experience especially with an Australian coach, it just makes the Australian-Iraqi connection so great,’ said supporter Richard Yalda.
‘Iraq is a state of Arabs, Assyrians, Kurds, Yazidis, Sunni, Shia, Christian and this has united the country.’
The full spectrum of emotions was on display at the Assyrian Sports Club in Fairfield Heights on Wednesday.
The elation of Al Hamadi’s 10th minute opener quickly evaporated when Moises Paniagua levelled for Bolivia as halftime approached.
Hussein put Iraq back ahead in the 53rd minute, his winning strike reigniting the singing, clapping and jeering every time their South American opponents made a mistake.
The nine minutes of second-half added time seemed to stretch for an eternity as nails were bitten and eyebrows were furrowed in concern until the referee called fulltime.
Arnold is the first Australian manager to qualify for a men’s World Cup with another country (pictured middle, celebrating with Iraqi fans)
When Arnold’s face flashed on screen there was widespread applause and fans quickly descended on Fairfield’s main drag, honking horns and holding up traffic with burnouts and impromptu singing.
‘That was an unbelievable feeling – we’ve been so close in the past and never gotten there, but now we can say we finally did it,’ Yalda said.
Iraq will go into a group with France, Senegal and Norway – and regardless of how they fare, Arnold has broken a drought and awoken one of Asian football’s sleeping giants.
‘I just say to them (the Iraqi fans): I’m so happy that we’ve made 46 million people happy,’ Arnold said.
‘I’ve got to give so much thanks to the players… they showed the real Iraqi mentality of fighting and putting their body on the line and that’s why we won the game.’
One-time Newcastle Jets coach Robbie Stanton and former Socceroos goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac added an Aussie flavour to Arnold’s game-day staff.
