The is the national team of
Iraq and is controlled by the
Iraqi Football Association . It made one
World Cup , in
1986 , but lost all three of its games.
During the reign of
Saddam Hussein his son,
Uday Hussein , was in charge of the Iraqi Olympic Committee and, by extension, its soccer team. Uday routinely
Tortured Iraqi soccer players for poor performances.
With the Husseins out of power, the Iraqi team had a re-surgrance in
2004 . Its Under-23 team qualified for the
2004 Summer Olympics and then represented the country in the
Asian Cup , where they surprised many by making the quarterfinals. But the surprises didn't end there. At the Olympics, Iraq defeated
Portugal ,
Costa Rica , and
Australia on their way to fourth place in the tournament.
During the 2004 Olympics, team members expressed their objections to commercials by the re-election campaign of George W. Bush which made reference to Iraq's participation in the Games.
[http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5772644/
