A "miracle" winning streak has propelled Yemen's senior and youth football teams to the Asian Cup, catching the war-torn nation's attention and offering a common goal to a divided country.
Qualification is a first ever for the senior team, currently based in Qatar, and a rare achievement for the under-16s who still train in Yemen. "Qualification has brought Yemenis together -- they're doing us proud," said Ahmed Sabahi, a fan in the southern port city of Aden.
"All Yemenis are behind their team," he said.
Yemen's war pitting pro-government forces supported by a Saudi-led coalition against Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels entered its fourth year in March.
The conflict has left nearly 10,000 people dead, tens of thousands wounded and created what the United Nations says is the world's worst humanitarian crisis, rife with once forgotten diseases like cholera and diphtheria.
"We hope the team will honour Yemen and give Yemenis some relief," said Sabahi.
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The senior team beat Nepal 2-1 on March 27, reaching the 2019 AFC Asian Cup to be contested in January-February in the Emirates -- for the first time in Yemen's history.
The U-16 tournament is to take place in Malaysia in September-October.
To build the youth team, selectors travelled the length of the country, including war zones and sectors controlled by rival factions.
Ranked 125 in the world by the sport's governing body FIFA, Yemen's senior team has never won a single match in the Gulf Cup against its neighbours since the competition was launched in 1970.
Yemen's media used to congratulate the team for an "honourable defeat" if they avoided a hammering. Asian Cup qualification was hailed as nothing less than a "miracle".
- Football, not politics -
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- 'Bring back the spirit' -
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