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Marines, Iraqi Soldiers Kick-It On The Soccer Field
10/19/2009
By Cpl. Meg Murray , Multi National Force - West
From the first century, when spectators filled the Roman Colosseum to cheer on their favorite fighters in the bloody gladiatorial contests, to the 1990s, when Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen led the Chicago Bulls to six championship wins in eight years, sports contests have been unifying fans all over the globe.
In Iraq, the national pastime has stayed near and dear to the hearts of Iraqis through it all - the good, the bad and the ugly. What were once considered just dust-blown fields, shadowed by the metal skeleton and loose netting of a goal, are now bustling centers of amity for Iraqi soccer lovers in cities and villages across the country. This passion for soccer has even transcended civilian communities and found its way into the ranks of the Iraqi army.
Aboard Camp Mejid in western Al Anbar province, Iraqi soldiers with the 7th IA Division have been scoring a few goals of their own.
When Gunnery Sgt. Devon Ambrose, the senior enlisted intelligence advisor for Military Transition Team 7, proposed a game between U.S. Marines and Iraqi soldiers, Iraqi army Sgt. Maj. Fadel Sanh, sergeant major of the 7th IA Division, was quick to accept.
“A few days before the game [Sgt. Maj. Sanh] asked if the Marines had asked for international help,” Ambrose laughingly recalled. “He asked if we had asked for help from a country like Brazil or Italy.”
To Americans, football involves a pigskin, quarterback, yard lines and touchdowns. To countries like Iraq, “futbol” entails goalkeepers, shin guards and a whole lot of kicking.
Soldiers from the 7th IA Division set up a soccer field on their very own turf, Camp Mejid, an IA camp aboard Al Asad Air Base, and the Marine team began arriving in the late afternoon.
“When we first saw the Iraqi army team, we could tell they were very organized,” said Gunnery Sgt. Brian Yost, the early warning and control detachment staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge for Marine Air Control Squadron 24, and player on the Marines’ soccer team. “We were all curious to see how the game would pan out, especially since this was our first time playing together as a team.”
However, Sanh, who also doubled as the IA team coach for the game, wasn’t worried about who won and who lost, because in his eyes the Marines and Iraqi soldiers are simply on the same team.
“If you win, I win. If you lose, I lose,” Sanh explained. “That’s our game here.”
When the final whistle was blown and the dust settled, it was the Iraqi army team that came out on top, outscoring the Marines 3-1. But, what the Marines lost in points, they gained in experience.
“I’m elated to be a part of this,” said Yost. “It’s incredible to be out in the field playing soccer with the liberated Iraqi army.”
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