Baghdad - Iraqis have put aside their simmering conflicts to cheer the fortunes of their Olympic soccer team, who could be on the verge of clinching a historic medal in Athens.
Having stunned talent-packed Portugal in their opening match and defeated Australia in the quarter-finals, the unfancied Iraqi side stand just 90 minutes away from a gold medal showdown against either Argentina or Italy.
"We have been carrying the dreams of a whole nation," said coach Adnan Hamad.
Their team's electric performance on the pitch has united a fractious and deeply-troubled country, bogged down in a near three-week battle between US-led Iraqi government forces and Shiite militiamen in Najaf.
"We are twice as happy, we have been successful and we have made our fellow countrymen proud ... From now on, anything is possible. If we make the final it will be a great honour," said Hamad.
"It has united Iraqis and for a while, made them forget the violence that has ruined their country since the war's end in April 2003," said Najah Hamud, vice-chairperson of the Iraqi Football Federation.
Euphoric with success, every 10 minutes there is a knock on the door and a fresh bouquet of congratulatory flowers from a political official are delivered.
"When our boys play, Iraqis forget their ethnic or political allegiances. They get behind the sole desire to see their team win," said Hamud, a former coach of the local side in war-battered Najaf.
"We'd be delighted if the team can encourage Iraqis to live in peace and harmony," he added. Twenty members of the squad are Shiite Muslims, one a Kurd and another a Sunni.
Their average age is just 23 years and seven months, but the team has been playing together since 2000 when they won the Asian junior cup in Tehran under Hamad, originally from the flashpoint Sunni Muslim bastion of Samarra.
Gold will also boost hopes of enlisting FIFA's help in reconstructing the sport back home. Australia has already invited the side on a two-week training camp. If the goals keep hitting the back of the net, invitations are likely to pour in.
"Before the war we were cut off from the world because of the (13-year UN) embargoes," said Hamud.
"We dreamed about going to Amman for a few days just for a change of scene. Now we've been invited all over the world and we'll accept."
A football medal would be Iraq's only second ever Games medal, with Abdul Wahid Aziz's 1960 weightlifting bronze in Rome their only podium appearance.
"I hope our achievements heal the hurt of the Iraqi people and help bring an end to the occupation," said trainer Adnan Hamad from Athens.
