Some of you may remember me saying that when I was over in Iraq, I had met members of the Iraqi national soccer team. It was during a ceremony for a sports faciity opening in Baghdad, and we had all sorts of press type folks there — Reuters, CNN, MSNBC, etc.

Got to talk to them for a while and it was pretty cool to hear them relate stories, albeit through a translator, of how they came so close to winning the bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics. Some of the players related stories of how when Uday Hussein was the Iraqi Olympic committee chairman, he tortured players if they did not win — since Uday is no longer on this earth, they play for a national pride that many feel is still missing in Iraq.

Fast forward to today, and the nation of Iraq is celebrating its first ever Asian Cup title. They beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 last night, and I’m sure it sparked massive celebrations, of which included people firing all sorts of weaponry into the air. (We had to deal with that a few times and take cover during soccer celebrations — hey, at least we knew the soccer team was doing well).

This is a really good thing for all the good people in Iraq. Most of the people over there need a diversion from the daily life they face in a war-torn country and this helps some of them out in a big way. Not to mention, it also gives Iraq an automatic berth in the FIFA Confederations Cup, so fans have more to look forward to.

Let’s hope the soccer victory over there is a prelude to some more good news in that region. It’s finally good to hear something positive, from a non–military perspective, come out of Iraq.