Patras, the city of goals, sees Iraq down Portugal (4:2)

 one It was raining goals again last night in Patras where Iraq stunned Portugal 4-2 in their hotly contested Group D clash. Iraq's giant killing antics, witnessed by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, seriously complicated the Iberians' chances of advancing, but raised expectations for Adnan Hamd's side.

Among the crowd at the Pampeloponnisiako Stadium were a few hundred raucous Iraqi supporters whose colour, chants and celebrations made the Asian side feel right at home. Iraq's all-important goals came from Mohammed Emad, Mohammed Hawar, Mahmoud Younis and Sadir Salih, while a Jabar Haidar own-goal, and a second from Bosingwa, put Portugal in the thick of the fight.

The game kicked off at a frantic pace with Hamd's men getting the better of the early exchanges and forcing their opponents onto the back foot. However, it was Portugal who drew first blood with their first decent attack after Jabar Haidar put a Hugo Almeida cross into his own net to silence the Iraqi supporters (0:1; 13').

Iraq refused to buckle and wasted no time hitting back. A miss-hit clearance in the Portuguese box fell to Emad, who volleyed unerringly past the diving keeper (1:1; 16'). The strike sparked jubilant scenes among the Iraqi faithful who celebrated as if their side had lifted gold. Minutes later, Emad was again involved as he went from goal scorer to goal provider. Deftly passing one defender with a neat one-two, the Iraqi striker again found himself bearing down on Moreira. But this time the Al Ittihad player selflessly crossed for his team-mate Mahmoud Younis to fire against the crossbar. Luckily for Iraq, Mohammed Hawar was on hand to nod in the rebound (2:1; 29').

Defensive errors at both ends provided further goal-scoring opportunities, but some wayward finishing from Almeida and Ricardo Costa when one-on-one with Sabri Tour kept Iraq's noses in front. As the first half wore on, Portugal pressed forward in search of an equaliser and the chances came thick and fast. First, Cristiano Ronaldo crashed a free kick against the upright, before Bosingwa finally levelled the tie with a scorching right-foot drive from the edge of the box (2:2; 45').

The Asian outfit had their best spell early in the second half as some clever play by Emad and Mahmoud Younis caused real problems for the Portuguese rearguard. Fortunately for the Europeans, their keeper Moreira was faultless with his numerous interventions. The tide began to turn Iraq's way, however, after Boa Morte was sent off for a reckless lunge at Abbas Bassim. "After the sending-off we lost our shape and began leaving spaces for Iraq to exploit on the counter-attack. They hit us harder than we expected on the break," the Portuguese coach José Romao said afterwards.
 

And it was precisely on the counter-attack that Iraq grabbed the lead once more. This time the scorer was Younis, sweeping home an Emad cross after the winger had once again beaten Moreira (3:2; 56'). The awestruck No.10 raced towards the travelling supporters to celebrate his crucial strike.

Despite being a man down, Portugal dug deep as they desperately tried to salvage their pride. With Iraq defending deep and pinned for long stretches in their own area, chances were inevitable. Almeida came closest with a spectacular header that agonizingly thundered back off the crossbar. When Iraq did break though, they looked increasingly dangerous. It fell to Sadir Salih in the end to dash Portuguese hopes and put the result beyond doubt as he beat Moreira with a well placed right-foot strike (4:2; 93+). There was no time for more and the Iraqi side, who only got round to stamping the numbers on their spare jerseys in the stadium, had achieved a historic victory. "It was an extremely difficult tie against one of the top sides in Europe, but my men had grown in confidence and experience after the Asian Cup. The whole of Iraq was watching on TV, and for at least a short while, we helped them to forget their problems. For us that means a lot."

Portugal, the pre-tournament favourites for many, left the stadium shell-shocked and deflated. The final word went to the Portuguese coach Romao: "This is not the debut that we had hoped for, but we still have hope."