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| | The New Yorker: PRINTABLES (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-15) |
 | | No surprise, then, that the bright-red plastic seats of the brand-new Karaiskaki Stadium—which is across the metro tracks from the volleyball arena, the equally state-of-the-art Peace and Friendship Stadium—were barely a third full for the first-round match between Iraq and Costa Rica. |
 | | In Iraq, under the old regime, fedayeen militiamen and other fanatics used to cry, “My soul and blood I sacrifice for you, O Saddam!” The soccer fans changed only the last word: their souls and blood would be sacrificed for Iraq. |
 | | The stadium announcer pleaded for order in Greek, French, and English, but the hapless Olympic security officials and the unusually tolerant Athens cops were no match for the Iraqi immigrants, who, far from a home that had never treated them well, were losing control of passions that were clearly inspired by more than soccer. |
| www.newyorker.com /printables/fact/040830fa_fact (3126 words) |
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