Iraq midfielder Zidane Iqbal says his team can be proud of their historic FIFA World Cup campaign despite being eliminated after losing all three group matches against Norway, France and Senegal, www.aclsports.com reports.
The tournament marked Iraq’s first World Cup appearance in 40 years, and for Iqbal, it was a moment of pride, lessons learned and a sign that the country is moving in the right direction.
“Tough, tough group. We knew that before we qualified. The World Cup is the highest level of football. We’ve not qualified in 40 years, so this is experience,” Iqbal said.
“We’re a young team and we’re going to be ready for the next World Cup. We’ve got the Khaleeji Cup coming up, we’ve got the Asia Cup.
“To our loyal fans, thank you so much. It was an amazing experience from the first day I joined Iraq. This was the project, and Alhamdulillah, we reached it.”
Although Iraq finished without a point, Iqbal believes the team’s achievement should not be defined only by results.
“We can always focus on the negatives, but sometimes we should just enjoy what we’ve done. We’ve not qualified in 40 years. I think you guys should be proud of us, just like we’re proud of you for supporting us.
“We weren’t expected to win, but we competed as hard as we could. This is football. Tough games against three very high-level teams. It didn’t go our way, but Inshallah, we’ll be back soon, ready to fight again.”
The midfielder also praised the bond within the squad, describing the Iraqi team as a family.
“My dad is proud of it, my mum as well. I’m proud of it. It’s a special group.
“I spent one month here with them, and there’s no one I would rather spend that time with. We’re a family, and I’m so proud of them. No matter the result, we stuck together.”
Iqbal admitted Iraq’s mistakes were punished at the highest level but believes the experience will help them improve.
“We made some mistakes. Against Norway, we made a mistake; against France, the second goal came from an error. Against Senegal, within three minutes it was 1-0, and then after 10 minutes we were down to 10 men.
“At this level, if you make silly mistakes, you get punished. We’ve learned a lot from this World Cup.”
For Iraq, the tournament also represented progress after years of difficulties.
“We’ve been through tough times over the past 20 years. For football, first we have to reorganise our country. For us, the country is moving forward, there are no more wars, and now we can build football properly.
“We’re going in the right direction. Soon, we’ll be back where we belong.”
With younger players gaining valuable experience, Iqbal believes Iraq’s future is bright.
“The players will be older, more experienced, stronger. This is our first World Cup under our belt, and I’m excited to see what happens.
“We also have the Asia Cup coming up. I think if we play like this there, we’ll do very well. We just need to cut out our mistakes.”
For Iqbal, representing Iraq on football’s biggest stage was the fulfilment of a childhood dream.
“To play in a World Cup, which every kid dreams of, and to represent my country, it’s the best feeling I’ve experienced in my football career so far.”
