When regional media questioned whether Saudi Arabia could finally be crowned the Gulf Cup trophy for the first time since 2004, Iraqi legend Younis Mahmoud laughed: “Saudi Arabia is coming to the title?”
This came after Saudi Arabia suffered a stunning 3-2 defeat to Bahrain in the opener of the regional Arabian Gulf Cup event, and Mahmoud’s laughter was interpreted as a sign of disrespect, angering Saudi supporters.
Saudi media quickly seized the opportunity, demanding Younis Mahmoud to apologise. Instead of apologising, Mahmoud hit further in a very bold manner.
“I didn’t insult anybody, and no one can prevent me from laughing because this is what I am,” he said.
While the Iraqi Football Association (IFA) issued a statement saying that Mahmoud’s words were just personal, it didn’t bode well with many Saudis.
The resentment from Saudis toward Iraqi legend may look weird to outsiders, yet it’s part of one of Asia’s most fascinating football rivalries. The rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iraq has a long-standing background, though it has been largely overlooked by both nations’ larger tensions with Iran.
Matches between Saudi Arabia and Iraq are often emotional and played with high intensity, as they represent the two most successful Arab nations in the Asian continent. For many Iraqis, beating Saudi Arabia is just as sweet as beating Iran and Kuwait.
The beginning of the rivalry, however, was surprisingly absent of anything special. They first met in August 1975, as part of the 1976 Olympics qualification, and Saudi Arabia won 2-0. A few months later, they squared up again for the 1976 AFC Asian Cup slot; this time, Iraq triumphed 3-2 on aggregate to qualify for the final competition held in Iran.
Saudi Arabia also qualified but decided to withdraw due to financial restraints. The aftermath of the Iranian Revolution and the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War led to a renewed focus on trying to fight against the mullah regime ruling Iran.
Matches between Saudi Arabia and Iraq were treated with the utmost friendly atmosphere and a sense of brotherhood in the name of Arabism prevailed in the face of resisting Iranian attempts to undermine the Arab world.
Yet it would be Kuwait’s role to put an end to the Saudi-Iraqi honeymoon. To be frank, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were some of the biggest backers of Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War, providing enormous loans and serving as weapon transit to the Iraqi military fighting against Iranian troops.
However, Kuwait’s actions were far from being sincere; using Iraq’s struggle, they started drilling for oil, including one such activity in the sensitive Rumaila region, which was disputed between her and Iraq. Saddam Hussein knew this but chose not to talk until the war with Iran was settled, which it did in 1988.
By then, Iraq was economically in ruins and desperate for wider international support to rebuild the economy, and it asked for others to erase debts. Most of the world, including fellow Gulf monarchies, agreed in solidarity with Iraq.
Except Kuwait. Kuwait refused to erase any debt with Iraq, citing that Iraq was trying to harass Kuwait’s drilling activities. Kuwait promised to erase all debts only if Iraq stopped trying to undermine Kuwait, and this really triggered Hussein.
The Iraqi dictator carried the grievance and complained that Kuwait was illegally drilling oil in Iraqi territory. The Saudis were put in an odd situation when Kuwait was (and still is) the country’s close ally due to shared peninsular culture, and deeply aligned politically.
The Saudis also didn’t wish to antagonise Iraq, already the largest military force in the Middle East after the war, so Riyadh offered to mediate. But Saddam stood firm with his demands. Saddam also stressed Iraqi territorial claim on Kuwait, stating that Kuwait was part of the Basra Governorate under the Ottoman Empire and thus legally part of Iraq.
Realising that an Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was imminent, Saudi Arabia started to demonstrate even more support for Kuwait. Ultimately Hussein announced a full-scale invasion in August 1990, occupying small Kuwait in just two days.
The Saudis perceived it as a threat to their traditional leadership, leading Riyadh to announce a military coalition to repel Iraqi troops, hence the Gulf War. Iraqi troops also invaded Saudi soil in this conflict, souring the relations between Riyadh and Baghdad.
Saudi Arabia foward Mohammad Al-Sahlawi. (Photo by LEON KUEGELER / AFP)
After the war ended with Iraqi defeat, Saddam Hussein could never forgive Saudi Arabia for backing Kuwait and started slanting Saudi Arabia in his speeches. Simultaneously, Saudi Arabia also started hosting Iraqi opposition groups and openly denounced Iraq in response.
One aspect we seldom realised was the Gulf War left a tremendous legacy on the development of football rivalry between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Previously, Iraq only treated Iran and Kuwait as biggest rivals; but because of what happened in 1991, Saudi Arabia was added to the list.
While Iraqi football during the 1990s was characterised by the reign of terror under Saddam’s son Uday, it was fair to say Iraqis also took the bitter defeat in Kuwait as a reminder of what they saw as Saudi Arabia’s treachery.
Matches between Saudi Arabia and Iraq were never the same again; in response to the invasion of Kuwait, Iraq was banned from the Gulf Cup for a decade. However, it did not prevent Iraq and Saudi Arabia from meeting each other at major events.
Their first competitive meeting since the Gulf War was during the 1994 World Cup qualification to the United States, and they had to play on a neutral ground. The match ended 1-1, with Ahmed Radhi giving Iraq an early lead only for Saeed Al-Owairan, who would be remembered with a brilliant goal against Belgium in the same World Cup, to level thirty minutes later.
Unlike Saudi Arabia though, Iraq didn’t qualify. The two would then reunite in the 1996 Asian Cup in the UAE, where Saudi Arabia came top with a 1-0 win by the virtue of Fahad Al-Mehallel’s goal; Saudi Arabia would then win their third Asian Cup title as Iraq crashed out in the quarter-finals to the hosts.
The rivalry reached a whole new height in the 2002 WCQ, as Iraq and Saudi Arabia found themselves together with Iran in what was seen as the “group of death”, alongside Bahrain and Thailand.
Because of strained relations between Riyadh and Baghdad, matches were again held at neutral grounds. In the first leg, held in Bahrain’s capital Manama and filled with Saudi fans in majority, Obeid Al-Dosari turned hero in the 45th minute to seal the win for the Kingdom once again.
The second leg, held in Jordan’s capital Amman, was spectacularly tense, with Iraqi and Saudi fans separated by fences and barriers to avoid chaos. Saudi Arabia again won 2-1, with a brace from Abdullah Bin Shehan while Abdul Wahab Abu Al-Hail was Iraq’s scorer. Iraqi and Saudi supporters threw projectiles at each other during and after the match.
The fall of Hussein in 2003 didn’t erode the importance of the rivalry, but it did provide space for a future Iraqi resurgence, at least in the short term.
In the 2004 Asian Cup, Iraq shocked Saudi Arabia with a 2-1 win in front of many sympathetic fans in Chengdu, and this shock loss also marked Saudi Arabia’s worst Asian Cup performance at the time, eliminated with only a point to their name.
But nothing could compare to what was to come in the same continental event three years later. While this tournament marked Australia’s first-ever entrance to Asian football, this was also the tournament to be remembered for many Iraqis.
In the face of bloodshed due to the war related to the earlier US invasion, many Iraqi players having very little training together due to personal concerns, flew to Southeast Asia in economy class, and were guided by a Brazilian convert to Islam, Jorvan Vieira, Iraq pulled out one of the greatest miracles in football history by conquering the competition undefeated.
Iraq’s Aymen Hussein receives a red card after celebrating a goal. (Photo by Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images)
The opponents Iraq faced in the final in Jakarta were none other but Saudi Arabia, where a header by the future Vice President of IFA, Younis Mahmoud (who also scored the decisive goal against the Saudis three years earlier), ended up being the final goal as Iraqi players burst to tears and joys.
The win also caused many Iraqis to flood the streets to celebrate, a rare moment where Iraqis found unity together.
Sadly, it remains the last time Iraq beat Saudi Arabia competitively. Iraq was beaten by Saudi Arabia twice in the 2015 Asian Cup qualification and again repeated during the 2018 WCQ.
In particular, the match where Iraq lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in Shah Alam during the latter qualifiers caused outrage in Iraq over perceived diving and playacting by Saudi players, as well as the referee’s bias against Iraq in giving two bizarre penalties for the Kingdom’s side.
Not just that, Iraq were also stripped of hosting the 2013 Gulf Cup, a move Iraqis blamed to be instigated by Saudi Arabia.
Of course, Saudis don’t sit aside; they often use their superiority in World Cup appearances and Asian Cup trophies to remind Iraq of how much the Iraqis have missed, and even scorned the Iraqi national team “Mesopotamian Kittens”.
Yet, as the two most notable countries in the West Asian region, and sharing a strong football passion, their rivalry is destined to keep on. Unlike Iraq’s fading rivalry with Kuwait, Iraq found in Saudi Arabia a more equal, if not saying, fierce rival worth trying.
The memoirs of the Gulf War clearly helped shape how the rivalry is played. There is passion, pride, determination and belief among the players, fans and officials observing.
With that, the importance will only grow.
El Futbolerohttps://https://ift.tt/O2PKXch the Gulf War helped foster the rise of one of Asia’s greatest rivalries between Saudi Arabia and Iraq
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