By Saif Fouad
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Anyone born deaf and mute faces achallenge playing in a soccer team -- it's hard to communicateon the pitch, players cannot hear the referee's whistle and fewcoaches know sign language.
Add the risk of being shot or blown up on the way totraining in Baghdad and Iraq's soccer team for deaf-muteplayers could be forgiven for staying home.
But the squad is set to compete in an internationaltournament in Kuwait in April, and trainer Hussein al-Shafisays he is determined the team will do their best.
A former local league footballer, Shafi uses sign languagehe learned from his brother, the chairman of a sportsassociation for handicapped Iraqis, to train a squad of 15players. He also trains a 12-strong deaf children's side.
"It's tough, but I feel spiritually bound to my players.It's my duty to make sure they succeed," Shafi told Reuters, asyoung men behind him bounced balls off their feet, gesturing toeach other with hand signals when they passed the ball.
Violence has dropped in Iraq, but bomb blasts and gunfirestill echo across Baghdad. That has made life hard for theplayers and sometimes interrupted practice.
"It's difficult to attend training sessions when there aregunfights and blasts everywhere. I'm afraid to come out," saidMohammed Jawad Yusif, 20, talking in sign language through hiscoach. "Sometimes there's no transport because of roadblocks."
Yusif said one of his friends, also deaf, was killed whengunmen opened fire on a car he was travelling in.
"It sapped my strength to play for a while," he said.
Shafi recalled when a gunfight between rival militias oncebroke out near the training ground. The players couldn't hearthe gunfire, so he signalled for them to hit the ground.
"They didn't understand at first. I panicked, buteventually they went down. When the shooting stopped and theygot up, they still thought it was a new training drill," hesaid.
PASSION FOR SOCCER
Iraqis love their football.
The country was the surprise winner of last year's AsianCup competition.
The victory brought rare joy and unity to the shatterednation, with Shi'ites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds pouring into thestreets to celebrate their team's unlikely 1-0 win over SaudiArabia in the final in Jakarta in July.
With the national team as their inspiration, the deaf-mutesquad qualified for the regional championships of the AsiaPacific Deaf Games in Kuwait.
Shafi founded the team in 2003, shortly after U.S.-ledforces toppled Saddam Hussein.
At a sports club one evening, he met a group of young deafmen who were bowling, swimming and bodybuilding. He suggestedthey play soccer.
In training, he works with two other coaches who do notknow sign language, but who do the physical training. Shafiteaches the various moves, tactics and strategy.
"Physical training is crucial, but it's not enough. Youneed someone who can communicate ideas with the kids,especially something technical," he said. "It's still difficult-- with sign language you never get the whole idea across."
Despite the challenges -- the referee has to wave a flaginstead of blowing a whistle and each team's trainer sits onthe sidelines translating his decisions in sign language --Shafi says the games are as good as any other.
The players say sometimes only half the squad turns up totraining when security is bad. Those who do often travel infear of being kidnapped or killed on Iraq's still dangerousroads.
But with attacks across Iraq down 60 percent since lastJune, thanks to an additional 30,000 U.S. troops, Sunnineighbourhood patrols and a ceasefire by a feared Shi'itemilitia, the team now manages more training sessions.
"The violence has created a lot of problems for us," saidAdel Khalef Mahmoud, 20, also using sign language.
"But we manage."
(Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Charles Dick)
