Sakamakon wasan ya nuna 4-1 ga Norway, amma adadi da ya fi muhimmanci ga Aymen Hussein ya fi sauƙi: ƙwallo guda ɗaya, lokaci guda ɗaya, labari wanda ya wuce iyakar ƙwallon ƙafa.

Ɗan wasan kai na Iraq ya ci ƙwallo da kai a minti na 39 na wasan farko na Ƙungiya ta I, yana soke ci na farko na Erling Haaland — ƙwallo da ya ba masu goyon bayan Iraq lokacin farin ciki na gaske yayin dawowa ƙasar su ga Gasar Duniya a karo na farko cikin shekaru 40. Hakan shi ne ƙwallo na biyu kawai da Iraq ta taɓa ci a zagaye na ƙarshe na Gasar Duniya.

"Shi ne irin ɗan wasan da yana da wahala sosai a sarrafa shi a cikin akwatin, kuma ina da farin ciki sosai kuma ina alfahari da shi," in ji shugaban kocin Iraq Graham Arnold.

Rayuwa da asara ta tsara ta

Hussein ya girma a cikin Iraki da ƙwallon ƙafa ya kasance ɗaya daga cikin ƙalilan abubuwa waɗanda za su iya haɗa ƙasa mai rarrabuwa. Yana da shekaru 12 a shekarar 2008 lokacin da mahaifinsa — soja a cikin sojojin Iraki — ya mutu bayan harbin bindiga da al-Qaeda yayi yayin da yake sayan kayan gini don gidan iyali.

Baƙin cikin ƙara ya biyo baya lokacin da ɗan'uwansa babba aka yi garkuwa da shi a lokacin tashin hankali. Bai taɓa a ganshi ba tun daga lokacin.

Fuskantar nauyin waɗannan asarori, Hussein ya yi tunanin barin ƙwallon ƙafa gaba ɗaya don tallafa wa iyalinsa. Uwarsa ta ƙi barin shi ya tafi.

"Na yanke shawarar barin ƙwallon ƙafa don in kula da iyalina, amma uwarsa ta ƙi," in ji Hussein.

Ƙudurinta ya jagoranci ɗanta zuwa ga mafarkin da a yanzu ya kai shi ga mafi girman fagen ƙwallon ƙafa a duniya.

Cikas kafin gasar

Har ma shirye-shiryen Gasar Duniya ba su kasance ba tare da wahala. Lokacin da ya isa Amurka a farkon wannan watan, an tsare Hussein kuma aka tambaye shi tambayoyi tsawon kusan awanni bakwai a filin jirgin saman O'Hare a Chicago kafin a bar shi ya shiga. Ma'aikacin daukar hoto na ƙungiyar Iraki Talal Salah bai samu izinin shiga ba kwata-kwata.

Ɗan wasan da ba a maye gurbin sa ga Iraq

Babu wani daga cikin wannan da zai ba da mamaki ga waɗanda suka kalli hawan Hussein da kyau. Tun 2023, ɗan wasan mai shekaru 30 ya kasance mafi dorewa barazanar kai hari ga Lions of Mesopotamia, yana haɗa ƙarfin sama da ƙwazon harbi a cikin yankin azaba.

Shi ne babban ƙarfin da ke bayan tarihin kamfen neman cancantar Iraq zuwa Gasar Duniya, yana ci ƙwallaye 12 — fiye da ninki biyu na jimlar kowane abokin wasa — yayin da ƙasar ta kai gasar ta hanyar inter-confederation play-offs. Bugun ƙarshe ya zo a watan Maris, lokacin da Hussein ya ci ƙwallon nasara a nasarar 2-1 akan Bolivia a Guadalupe don tabbatar da cancantar Iraq.

An yi tambayoyi game da yadda lafiyarsa take kafin gasar bayan wata wahala a kulob din Al-Karma, inda ya yi fama da rashin lokacin wasa. Wasan sa da Norway — minti 90 na ƙoƙari mara tsayawa, wanda ya ƙare da wani kyakkyawan ƙwallo da kai — ya rufe waɗancan tambayoyin.

"Ya samu raunuka da yawa a lokacin kakar wasan kuma a gare shi ya wuce minti 90 tare da wannan ƙarfi da ci ƙwallo ya kasance abin mamaki," in ji Arnold.

Iraq ta fuskanci kalubale mai ƙarfi a Ƙungiya ta I wacce kuma ta haɗa da France, wadda ta zo ta biyu a 2022, da kuma Senegal. Amma idan Hussein ya ci gaba da wannan nau'i, yaƙin neman su na iya riƙe ƙarin mamaki.