Even Allah was unable to save Iran from international humiliation at the hands of the mighty Irish in a war of a sporting kind in China yesterday.
The odds were stacked in Iran's favour. But the latest batch of Irish soccer heroes overcame sweltering heat and jet lag to score a 3-0 win in their opener in the World University Games soccer tournament in the Haidian Stadium in Beijing.
The game was dubbed "Paddy versus Ali". But it was Paddy who held the upper hand and even though the Iranian support outnumbered the Irish, it was the Irish who were shouting and singing the loudest when the final whistle blew.
Even local Chinese backed the Irish cause, tired of years of playing second fiddle to the Iranians in senior World Cup qualifying competitions.
"We could do with some Irish spirit if we are ever to beat teams like the Iranian wolves," local Chinese man, Mr Xiao Liu, said with feeling. He kindly accepted the offer of an Irish flag and promised to shout for the boys in green at their next game tomorrow against the Czech Republic.
The Chinese pride themselves on organisation. And knowing there would not be too many Iranians or Irish in town to cheer their teams, they organised a few busloads of local secondary school-children to provide atmosphere. They roared every time the ball was near either net.
However, the infectious spirit of the Irish was catching and by the middle of the second half, it was clear whose side the Chinese were on. They even attempted to sing along to the famous Irish soccer anthem, Ole Ole, being pelted out by the Irish supporters who included the Chef de Mission of the Irish World University Games squad, Mr Mickey Whelan.
The soccer team, managed by Prof Tom Stark, from NUU at Coleraine, University, were ebullient last night as they savoured the victory which gives them a good chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.
The scorers for Ireland were Ryan Coyle, the captain Shaun Gallagher, from a penalty, and David Martin. All the goals came in the second half after an evenly contested first half.
Garrett Bodrill, a 22-year-old defender and third-year business systems management student at Carlow IT, told The Irish Times from the athletes' village last night the boys were thrilled with their success.
"We didn't expect to beat the Iranians. The most we hoped for was a draw. But it sets us up nicely for the other games," he said. Ireland play the Czech Republic tomorrow and Japan on Saturday. The top two teams from the group go forward to the quarter-finals next week.
A total of 45 athletes are competing in the World University Games in soccer, judo, swimming and track and field events.