Syria - Football on the Front Line Our World

They are the unlikely sporting heroes

in a country ripped apart by conflict.

WHISTLE BLOWS

Syria is in the midst of a bloody civil war,

but the national football team is trying to send

a message it hopes can transcend political and religious differences.

CROWD SINGS

I'm following the team as they compete for a place

in football's biggest tournament, the World Cup.

Some Syrians refuse to support the team,

because it's associated with the Assad regime.

But for others, even those who fled Syria in fear of their lives,

the team is a symbol of national pride.

The team has defied the odds by beating some of Asia's

biggest and best.

THEY CHANT: Syria! Syria!

Now they're on the road again,

competing for so much more than just football glory.

CROWD CHANTS: Syria! Syria! Syria!

It's Friday afternoon in Damascus and the weekend is under way.

Prayers in the morning...

..and, like so many places around the world,

football in the afternoon.

Very nice to meet you.

'It's here that I meet Tarek Jabban,

'assistant coach of Syria's national team.'

SYRIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS

I'm joining him as he watches a low-key fixture in

Syria's Premier League.

Which is also attempting to carry on despite the conflict.

DRUMBEAT AND CHANTING

Syrian football fans have much to cheer about right now.

Their national side has performed beyond expectations as they

try to qualify for next year's World Cup in Russia.

Economic sanctions mean the country and therefore football

has little money.

What cash there is comes from the Assad government, keen to use

football to give the impression of a united, functioning state.

Syrian players need somebody to

support him,

our federation, our government.

Now our equipment,

our condition is not we want.

DRUMBEAT AND SINGING

Syrian government officials are keen to show us that football is flourishing.

Let's go meet the man. We can learn more about this...

'It's half-time, and Tarek introduces me to his boss,

'the head coach of the national football team,

'and the man responsible for their recent good results.'

You beat China 1-0, you drew with South Korea.

There's a real opportunity here for Syria to go to a World Cup.

Do the players now believe?

Do they have the belief in their hearts that they can qualify

for the World Cup?

Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, wants the perception to be

that his country is returning to normal,

and sport helps with that aim,

but regardless of his intentions it's clear that sport,

that football coming back to Syria provides the people with

a chance to forget about their worries, at least for 90 minutes.

After six years of war,

more games are being played and fans are slowly returning.

But football is only possible in government-held areas and not

in large swathes of this country outside the regime's control.

This season is interesting, because all the Syrian people want to

come back for stadiums, want to support the teams.

And it is 2-2 at the moment. We'll see if anyone can get a late winner.

I think this first time in this field, two teams score four goals,

because all games in this field, finishing 1-0.

CHEERING

-There's another one.

-3-2.

-3-2.

We saw all games in this field finishing 1-0, 0-0, 1-0, 0-0.

-It's the first time maybe...

-Five goals?

-Five goals.

-Because maybe you are coming this time.

-It's BBC's fault. RICHARD LAUGHS

We should come every week.

DRUMMING AND CHANTING

What looks like normal life does go on in President Assad's Damascus.

And you'd be forgiven at times for thinking there is no war.

That's how Syria's leader wants it.

Here on the east side of Damascus, we're at a football field

that's been hit in the past by mortar fire.

Very few of the national team play in Syria,

but five star players are here training with their local club side.

For a variety of reasons they've stayed in Syria,

their career choices complicated by the war.

PLAYERS SHOUT INSTRUCTIONS

Every so often, you can hear the sound of an aerial artillery

shell going off somewhere in the distance.

We're very close here to one of the front lines, even as we are in

the centre of Damascus, but the players, they're not fussed.

They haven't even raised an eyebrow.

This is the sound of war, it's something they've grown up with.

Omar Al Midani is one of the younger members of the national team.

Does this team really believe it can go on and qualify for Russia?

The training looks familiar.

But that's where similarities between the game here and in other countries ends.

The difference is not just the conditions,

but the hopes and expectations that are placed upon this team.

There is no part of life in Assad-controlled Syria untouched by the regime.

Every facet of society, especially where there is success,

such as with the national football team,

is presented as a sign of a functioning state.

But the illusion is easily shattered.

We were filming at a market,

when we heard a very loud explosion nearby.

There are reports that a number of people have been killed,

so we're going now to see if we can find out what's happened and

see what damage has been caused.

Two devices have detonated.

One by the roadside, another by a suicide bomber targeting

mainly Shia pilgrims visiting from Iraq.

All of a sudden, I'm a war reporter.

-BBC NEWS ANCHOR:

-Our correspondent Richard Conway is at the scene.

This is the largest attack to hit Damascus in some time.

A suicide bomber detonated his device in this commercial

district in the centre of Damascus, killing at least 40 people,

injuring dozens more.

Working as a sport correspondent means you simply don't see

devastation like this.

The number of people killed rose over time to 74.

The experience is a shocking and a harrowing insight into the

painful realities of life in Syria.

What before had been just words about the conflict,

war and bombings was now very real in my mind.

I'd come to Syria to find out how football could possibly

thrive and matter in a time of war.

But right now that question seemed more difficult to answer than ever.

OK, this is important medals from my life.

This is for the Asian Cup under-19s.

'Tarek has devoted much of his life to Syrian football.'

We won 2-1.

'And in this box are the medals that prove it.'

This is you, yeah?

-With the captain's armband.

-Number 5. Yes, number 5.

-Yeah.

'But that was before the war.'

Now, there is many players now in our national team, but I am...

-So, now you are their coach?

-Yes.

So, you've gone from being playing with them to now...

'Today the majority of the most talented players look to play abroad.'

There is a big difference, because now, you understand,

before six years, all Syrian players in the national team was playing in Syria,

but now we need our players to play outside Syria.

I think, who play inside, I think his living is not good for future.

Look at that.

-This is for you and your group.

-Oh, that's very kind.

-You baked us a cake. That's so kind of you. Thank you very much.

-Yes, welcome.

'Tarek is preparing to say goodbye to his family and fly to Malaysia.

'Sanctions in the war mean this team must play its home games on

'neutral ground.

'A 14,000km round trip awaits.'

The game against Uzbekistan is arguably the most important

match in Syria's history.

There is political capital for the Assad regime in the team's success.

But I can't help but wonder if those forced to flee Syria will be

supporting the team too.

Nearly five million people have sought refuge abroad from the

Syrian civil war.

80,000 of them are here in the Zaatari camp in northern Jordan.

Just a few kilometres from the Syrian border, it's a living,

breathing testament to the human cost of war.

'Mohammad Al Khalaf was a professional footballer with

'the Syrian top-flight club Al Majd.

'But when his brother was killed by a shell which hit their house,

'he, together with his family, escaped over the border to Jordan.

'Like many here, he is angry.'

Mohammad is beginning to get his football career back on track.

And still supports the national team.

Issam Al Masri is just 22 and considered the best player in camp.

The medals he has here are all from playing football inside Zaatari.

He was a young talent with professional side Al Shula

in the city of Daraa.

But in 2012 he fled with his family.

WHISTLE BLOWS

Like Mohammad, he is trying to resurrect his career.

He coaches the children here in the camp.

He admits to me, like many, it's hard for him to talk openly.

The guarded language used even here in the refugee camp makes it

clear just how fearful people are of talking about politics.

But still, like Mohammad, Issam supports the national side.

CHILDREN SHOUT

Life here in camp is tough,

but the people here are safe, having escaped from the war.

Now, football's one of the central activities that kids get to enjoy.

It's fun, it gives them a sense of purpose.

But it also gives them something that's very precious having

escaped from the conflict, a sense of a normal childhood.

What's your favourite team?

MANY SHOUT: Real Madrid!

Real Madrid? What about England? Anyone like an English team?

Man United, Chelsea.

-Manchester United!

-Juventus.

-Juventus? That's in Italy.

What about, well, black and white, what about Newcastle United?

-Who's heard of Newcastle United? That's my team.

-Manchester.

-Who?

THEY LAUGH

-Show me your name.

-Ronaldo.

-You're Ronaldo? You're like a mini Ronaldo.

LAUGHTER

Who are your favourite players in Syria, your Syrian players?

THEIR COACH TRANSLATES

Why does everyone like Al Somah so much?

All right, high fives, everyone.

I had wondered how much these children would know of Syrian football,

but clearly the players are heroes.

Football matters because of the hope it can provide.

CHANTING

Even here, amongst those displaced by civil war and who have lost

loved ones to the regime,

I got a strong sense of the love and pride for their country that

rises above politics and endures in spite of the suffering.

It feels as though the country's football team provides people

with a safe focus for those feelings.

The historic Malaysian resort town of Malacca is the venue for

Syria's crucial match against Uzbekistan.

And it's now just days away.

Those members of the squad who travelled from Syria have

been joined by players earning much bigger money in the likes of

China, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The range of salaries is matched by the range of religions and

backgrounds within the squad.

'I catch up with Omar again

'and he introduces me to Mardik Mardikian,

'one of the few Christians to play for the Syrian side.'

Of course, more controversial than religious differences are political ones.

The side has long been multi-faith,

but for this important match, a first.

Firas Al Khatib, one of the greatest Syrian footballers

of this generation, left Syria and criticised the Assad regime.

As a result, he has not played in five years,

but he's returning to the squad for this match.

Beyond funding, the extent to which the Assad government is

involved in team affairs is unknown.

The mix of faiths and now politics within the squad certainly sends a message

that the regime wants heard - Syria can come together, at least for football.

But many former players haven't returned.

Before the war, Mohannad Al Ibrahim represented Syria 31 times.

The conflict forced him to pursue his career abroad.

He's been asked repeatedly to play again for the national team,

but so far has not, for what he describes as personal reasons.

Politics is probably not on the minds of the national team players

as they arrive at the stadium for their game against Uzbekistan.

Right now they are dealing with another P - pressure.

With their past performances, and with all this talk of their

success, expectation rises amongst their fans.

Syria! Syria!

THEY CHANT: Syria! Syria!

There are about 100 Syria fans in the stadium.

The country's footballing ambitions now rest on the shoulders of these 11 players.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

It's a close game.

At half-time it's goalless.

In a sports club in Damascus, the tension is palpable...

THEY SHOUT

..as fans watch the game head towards the final minutes.

A win here is absolutely crucial to Syria's World Cup hopes.

THEY CHANT: Syria!

Then, in the final minutes,

returning star Firas Al Khatib is fouled...

CHEERING

..and wins a penalty.

Omar Khribin scores.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

And Syria have a famous victory.

THEY CHANT: Syria! Syria! Syria!

Its meaning to those in Damascus is clear.

-ANNOUNCER:

-The final score is Syria 1-0 Uzbekistan!

So too here in Malaysia.

CAR HORNS BEEP

CHANTING: Syria! Syria!

Woo!

CAR HORNS BEEP

HE SOBS

Coach, lovely to meet you. Good luck in South Korea.

'This team operates under unique circumstances.'

Thank you.

'They have a real belief they are playing for the Syrian people.'

CAR HORNS BEEP

CHANTING: Syria! Syria!

The achievements really do seem to transcend both sport and politics.

It demonstrates the power of sport and how,

even amidst the horrors of a civil war that has ripped Syria apart,

it can matter so much to so many.