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The Syrian football team enters the # 2019 Asian Cup for its first official tournament since the bloody conflict that erupted eight years ago, hoping to make the Syrians smile, but they are divided around him.
In January 2011, the team participated for the last time in the continental tournament held in Qatar, weeks before his country enters a devastating conflict between the regime of President Bashar al -Assad and his opponents. On Sunday, "Eagles Qaseen" is back on the continental stage of the Asian Cup in the UAE against the Palestinian team in the second set.
"The pressure and pain of the war really impressed us, because we really wanted the happiness of the Syrian people who needed joy," said Moyad Ajan, a national team player.
"Our qualifying for the UAE was a win for all after 8 years of participation in the Doha final 2011."
The conflict had a negative impact on Syrian football. He stopped his competition in the first stage, before shyly returning to isolated areas of violence such as Damascus and the coastal cities, then gradually to cities under the control of the Syrian army, such as Homs ( center) and Aleppo (north).
Although the team is still banned from hosting home games, its limited foreign participation has been a rare opportunity for Syrians, whether fans of the game or not.
"I did not expect in my life for a day when I would name a football player," said Maria Baroud, a 29-year-old employee at a clothing store in Damascus. "But with the Syrian team, I kept all the names of the players and I watched the dates of their matches and bought their jerseys."
"This is no longer for me, just a hard and dry male game.The game has become a national and sensitive subject, we are waiting and we are rejoicing, we are dancing when the team wins, we cry and we we cry when we lose. "
"We were very sad during the war and we are looking for any moment of joy to exploit."
In 2018, the "Eagles of Qaseen" reached an advanced stage of qualifying for the World Cup in Russia and fought against Australia during the Asian playoffs. The Syrian team will meet again against the Australian champion Asia, in the second group with Jordan and the Palestinian team.
At the end of December, the team held an open training session for fans in front of fans and the media before traveling to the United Arab Emirates. At Tishreen Stadium in Damascus, thousands of fans shouted at the fireworks and smart phone lights taking pictures and videos.
In October, Assad received the players after the World Cup qualifiers, took pictures with them and signed their sports jerseys.
"I am sure that when the national team plays, like all Syrian citizens, they think when they are trying to achieve a feat," said the Syrian president.
For the players, the most important thing is now to bet on the success of the final of the tournament, which will be the largest with a participation of 24 teams instead of 16.
Nisour Kasion will play Sunday his first match of the second group against a competitor who knows perfectly the effects of war and conflict, the Palestinian team.
"We must follow the sport in order to keep smiling, in football or elsewhere, to bring people together despite all the attacks that have taken place, despite all the injustices inflicted on the Syrian people," said Syrian goalkeeper Ibrahim Alamah.
Mohammed Barafe, an employee of a 24-year-old Damascus IT firm, is ready to watch him with the usual tradition: quit his job and follow the screen in his room.
"Our current team is the best Syrian team because it comes from the upright of the crisis and the suffering and it is the war team that has so much to do with it", he declared.
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