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If I go back to Iraq anybody could kill me, says hero football captain
Last updated at 13:07pm on 30.07.07The captain of Iraq's victorious football teams has said he will not return to his home country because he fears being killed.
Younis Mahmoud scored the only goal of the game with a header in the 71st-minute to give win the Asia Cup for Iraq.
But afterwards, the 24-year-old said he would not be returning to Iraq as he feared for his life if he went home to celebrate the victory.
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We are the champions: Younes Mahmoud lifts the Asian Cup
"I don't want the Iraqi people to be angry with me," he said. "But, if I go back with the team, anybody could kill me or try to hurt me.
"One of my closest friends, they (the authorities) came to arrest him and for one year neither me nor his family knew where he was.
"I want America to go out," he said. "Today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, but out. I wish the American people didn't invade Iraq and hopefully it will be over soon."
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High spirits: Iraqis in London go while
The continuing unrest in Iraq was brought home when a car bomb killed six people in central Baghdad on Monday - the first bombing in the capital since the victory brought a brief respite to the violence.
Police said 12 people were also wounded in the blast in al-Tayran square in Bab al-Shorji district, a mainly Shi'ite area that has many wholesale and electronics shops.
Earlier there had been epic scenes of jubilation as thousands defied curfews to surge onto the streets of Baghdad and Basra. Soldiers and policemen fired shots of celebration into the air.
Iraq's 1- 0 victory in Jakarta was hailed a remarkable achievement given the unique obstacles faced by the team - and the general population.
A new report today have shown nearly a third of the population of Iraq is in need of immediate emergency aid, according to Oxfam and a coalition of Iraqi NGOs.
The groups accused the Iraqi government of failing to provide basic essentials such as water, sanitation, food, and shelter for up to eight million people.
The players triumphed even thought some were in the side when Saddam Hussein's son Uday was in charge of sport in Iraq and menacingly interfered with the footballers.
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Iraqis celebrate in Baghdad
Motivational team talks included threats to cut off the players' legs and being forced to kick a football made of concrete.
Today, the players are based outside Iraq as playing football has become increasingly dangerous with Islamists even having targeted children seen kicking a ball.
Following the side's penalty shoot-out win over South Korea in the semi-final, more than 50 football fans were killed by several car bombs in Mosul. The players wore black armbands for yesterday's final.
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For once, scenes of joy replaced destruction on the streets of the Iraqi capital
England's World Cup bid ambassador Richard Caborn sent his congratulations to Iraq today.
Britain has helped the Iraqi team with equipment and training facilities in the past and Caborn said: "This shows the power of football that it can unite a nation where there are such problems."
The team's success has given Iraqis a respite from violence, with men of all ages cheering and dancing in the streets after each victory.
'This winning has united the Iraqis and nobody has been like this for a long time,' said Yassir Mohammed, a 35-year-old Sunni from western Baghdad, as the sounds of gunshots popped around him.
Sabah Shaiyal, a 43-year-old policeman in Baghdad's main Shiite district of Sadr City, said: "Those heroes have shown the real Iraq.
"They have done something useful for the people as opposed to the politicians and lawmakers who are stealing or killing each other."
In the southern Shia-dominated city of Basra, fans sprayed confetti over the heads of crowds. And traffic jams clogged the streets in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles north-east of Baghdad. Many fans waved both Kurdish and Iraqi flags.
But extremists seem just as determined to destroy this spirit of unity. Two car bombs tore through crowds in Baghdad after Wednesday's semi-final against South Korea, killing 50.
Four died in the latest frenzied celebrations.
After the match, prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's office issued a statement congratulating the team and said each member would receive $10,000 (£5,000) for their achievements.
