Iraq soccer final before sellout crowd

Baghdad - Tens of thousands of Baghdad soccer fans cheered on their club in the top league's final game, the largest sports crowd the city has seen since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

The Baghdad club, al-Zawraa, lost 0-1 in overtime Sunday to a team from Irbil in northern Iraq. But the game was not marred by crowd violence or a terrorist attack, a sign that security forces are asserting more control in the capital.

[that the soccer game featured only a soccer game is good news is, well, less than stellar - but we'll take it. besides, it's better than Britain usually manages...]

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