Athens - War-weary Iraq marked their return to Olympic football after a 16-year absence with a fairytale 4-2 victory over Portugal on Thursday as highly rated Italy scrambled a lucky 2-2 draw with Ghana.
Iraq, who made the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup in China last month, went into the Group D match as underdogs against a Portuguese side boasting a wealth of top-class talent including Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo.
They have endured a chaotic build-up to the Athens Games, with the ravages of war in their homeland forcing them to play all their home qualifying matches in neutral Jordan.
Football facilities in the country were devastated by the conflict, with sheep grazing on their training field and the United States military using Baghdad's main stadium as a parking lot for tanks and armoured vehicles.
Luis Boa Morte sent off
Their German coach Bernd Stange also quit the Iraqi set-up in July, citing concerns about deteriorating security, leaving assistant Adnan Hamd in charge.
Iraq took the upper hand of a controversial match against Portugal when the Europeans had Fulham's Luis Boa Morte sent off in the second-half with the scores locked at 2-2.
Iraq had fallen behind through a Haidar Jabar own goal before hitting back to lead, thanks to Emad Mohammed and Hawar Mulla Mohammed.
Portugal were level by the break, thanks to Bosingwa before the match exploded in the second half when Boa Morte saw red, which paved the way for Younis Mahmoud to score the third.
Substitute Salih Sadir wrapped up the famous upset win in injury time.
Italy fights back from two goals down
Portugal, meanwhile, were lucky not to have been reduced to 10 earlier in the match when Ronaldo escaped with a yellow card after elbowing Younis Mahmoud, causing a deep cut on the Iraqi player's brow.
In Group B, Alberto Gilardino grabbed an equaliser seven minutes from time as Italy fought back from two goals down to scrape a 2-2 draw against Ghana, the 1992 Olympic bronze medallists.
In Thursday's other games, Paraguay defeated Asian powerhouses Japan 4-3 in a Group B game in Salonika while Morocco and Costa Rica drew 0-0 in Group D. - Sapa-AFP
