‘It was madness in Baghdad’: René Meulensteen on coaching Iraq and helping Ronaldo

Iraq’s No 2 discusses his recipe for a World Cup shock, the players’ singing and his time assisting Alex Ferguson at Manchester United Iraq’s journey to their first World Cup finals tournament in 40 years involved sacrifices unmatched by any other side. After 20 qualifiers, the team faced a decisive playoff in the Mexican city of Monterrey but, with Iraq dragged into the Middle East war and airspace closed , several staff and players had an arduous job getting there. “They had to travel from different cities to Baghdad by car or bus,” says René Meulensteen, the assistant to Iraq’s head coach,

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