Pat Dollard

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FOX Sports:

Police say an Iraqi soccer player has been shot dead just as he was about to kick what could have been the tying goal in a weekend game south of Baghdad.

Police Maj. Muthanna Khalid says a striker from the Buhairat amateur team was facing only the goalie during a Sunday match in Hillah when a supporter of the rival Sinjar club shot him in the head in the final minute of play.

Sinjar was leading 1-0 when the shooting occurred. Khalid said a spectator was arrested.

More Iraqis are turning out for sports events now that security is improving. Major matches in Baghdad are heavily guarded but security in amateur games in smaller cities is often lax.

BBC:

Iraqi footballer shot dead by fan

An Iraqi football player has been shot dead by a spectator as he was about to score an equalising goal.

The shooting happened in the last minute of a game between two local rivals on Sunday, police say.

The striker was shot in the head during the match in the city of Hilla, according to local security officials.

The game was being played between Sinjar and Buhayra. The suspected killer has been arrested as police carry out an investigation.

NY Post:

Iraqi player shot dead right on the pitch

By Brian Lewis

In yet another sign that the End Is Neigh, an Iraqi soccer player got gunned down Sunday by a fan just as he was about to score the game-tying goal.

Good looking out from computer ace North in our office to pick up this BBC story. According to the Beeb, it was in the last minute of a heated tilt between local rivals Sinjar and Buhayra in Hilla, south of Baghdad. The suspected killer _ I can’t imagine a shortage of witnesses _ shot the player right in the head.

For those of you who remember, the first thing I thought about was poor Colombian Andres Escobar, shot dead in front of a bar just ten days after his own goal against the U.S. in the 1994 World Cup. But I can’t ever remember a player getting shot through the head right on the pitch. Scary…

Me: And they say American football is violent and the fans crazy??? Heh … If you google stories about violence at American football games and violence at foreign soccer games you’ll find just the opposite is true. My oldest daughter has a high school friend that has been playing soccer in Italy since he was a kid through school (in the summers) and now plays there … The stories he tells.