Iraq's footballers have brought a ray of hope to their war-ravaged country with their amazing run to the Asian Cup quarter-finals.
Simply qualifying for the tournament had been traumatic enough for Iraq, forced to play their qualifying games in neutral Jordan and share a training pitch with grazing sheep in Baghdad.
To add insult to injury, German coach Bernd Stange quit before the Asian Cup, saying he feared for his life amid the escalating violence in the country.
But cash-strapped Iraq have made a mockery of their problems, beating Saudi Arabia 2-1 in Chengdu, China on Monday to set up a quarter-final clash with hosts China.
"China are a fantastic team," smiled forward Ahmed Salah. "Iraq are fantastic too. I think many Chinese people will support us too."
While few of the 65,000 crowd expected in Beijing on Friday will want to see another giant-killing act from Iraq, the Chinese fans have certainly taken the war-weary players to their hearts.
After securing second place in Group C behind Uzbekistan on Monday, the Iraqi players did a lap of honour and unfurled a huge banner reading: "Thank you, Chengdu."
Such was the magnitude of their victory over the three-times champions that Saudi Arabia's coach, Gerard van der Lem, was sacked minutes after the match.
For Iraq, however, the future looks bright. To put their Asian Cup run into sharper perspective, Iraq are taking part in the tournament with their under-23 squad.
After booking a trip to Athens, new Iraq coach Adnan Hamd has made next month's Olympic Games the top priority for his team.
"The Olympics is a big honour for the Iraqi people," he said. "It is important to try to make people back home happy during this difficult time."
However, Hamd retained his sense of humour, joking: "If we go to the semi-finals, maybe we will be too tired for the Olympics."
Meanwhile, Salah insisted Iraq would not be overawed by playing the hosts in the Chinese capital.
"Okay," he shrugged. "100,000 people...no problem."
