Syria’s gamers hoisted Omar Khribin into the air in celebration after the ultimate whistle, recognizing the importance of the second.
Khribin’s objective, Syria’s solely of the group levels, gave them a 1-0 win in opposition to India and sealed their first ever spot within the knockout rounds of the Asian Cup as top-of-the-line third-placed sides. It was maybe crucial objective within the nation’s soccer historical past. For a facet that has seemingly not performed a house recreation in over a decade resulting from an on-going battle within the nation, the emotion of the second was tangible. In the post-game interview with head coach Hector Cuper, each the translator and the interviewer burst into tears.
“We are very happy with the qualification, very proud of my players, they made huge sacrifices to get this result,” Cuper stated afterwards. “We played the game with one aim in our mind — to win, and we managed to do that. We don’t want to stop here.”
Argentinian coach Cuper has an esteemed historical past in soccer, twice taking Valencia to the Champions League ultimate and Egypt to the Africa Cup of Nations ultimate in 2017 and their first World Cup in 28 years in 2018. At 68, this could be his ultimate hurrah in soccer, and if that’s the case then he has delivered a second of pleasure to Syrian followers.
Country in battle
Syria has been battling battle for over a decade and as Nada al-Rashed, a director of the Syrian Civil Defense (White Helmets), advised Al Jazeera earlier this month, Syrians had welcomed 2024 the identical manner that they had bid farewell to 2023: “with bloodshed”.
Even past the bombings, the nation has suffered. In February 2023, a devastating earthquake noticed greater than 6,000 folks killed and in keeping with the Syria Earthquake RDNA, the bodily damages triggered had been estimated at $3.7 billion (€3.4 billion).
Just 4 days later, Cuper was appointed, and instantly stated he had a better want to make Syrian followers joyful after the struggling. “We know that we cannot remove the pain, but we try to ease the pain.”
After the sport, a video on social media of the gamers shouting politically charged slogans on the staff bus, corresponding to: “Our soul, our blood we sacrifice for you Bashar [al-Assad]” went viral. Indeed, the Syrian staff is just not celebrated by all within the nation as thousands and thousands of regime critics see it as a part of the regime’s propaganda.
History and an opportunity
Now into the knockouts, Syria’s footballers are dreaming of creating extra historical past — and for his or her gamers, that is additionally an opportunity to alter their careers.
“The Asian Cup is a very big tournament and for many players it is a very big market, a platform to perform and show what you can do,” Syrian midfielder Mohammed Osman advised Arab News earlier this month. “It gives this extra incentive knowing that if you have a good tournament, you could have an exciting new opportunity.”
Of the 26 gamers within the squad, 10 play outdoors of the Middle East, with eight based mostly in Syria. None play in any of Europe’s prime 5 leagues.
Perhaps Syria’s Asian Cup might be over within the subsequent spherical, maybe none of the present squad will seal strikes to Europe and maybe this nice second is not going to spark a run of type that may assist their 2026 World Cup qualifying, however proper now that doesn’t matter. Syria’s footballer’s have made historical past and that’s value savoring.
Edited by: James Thorogood
AFP contributed to this report
This article was up to date after the social media video from the staff bus was launched.