.
Coexistence [Dhaka]: photo by Md. Enamul Kabir, 14 April 2018
Coexistence [Dhaka]: photo by Md. Enamul Kabir, 14 April 2018
Coexistence [Dhaka]: photo by Md. Enamul Kabir, 14 April 2018
Syrians take part in a football match on April 16, 2018 between local teams at a stadium in Raqa that the Islamic State group once used as a prison #AFP / Delil souleiman: image via AFP Photo @AFP, 16 April 2018
#Colombia XXXI International Book Fair of Bogota, where Argentina is this year's guest of honour, in Bogota. #AFPphoto by @RAULARBOLEDA: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 19 April 2018
#Argentina. Brazil's Corinthians' Rodriguinho (front) vies against Argentina's Independiente Fabricio Bustos during their Copa Libertadores football match at Libertadores de America stadium in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires#AFPphoto by @imabromata: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 19 April 2018
Brazil. Flamengo player Lincoln kicks the ball during the 2018 Copa Libertadores football match against Colombia's Independiente Santa Fe, at Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. AFPphoto by @mauropimentel: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 19 April 2018
Yemen's qualification offers a glimmer of hope and a distraction from everyday life in what was the Arab world's poorest country even before the war: photo by Muhammad Huwais/AFP, 19 April 2018
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.
More than half of Yemen's 27-million-population are aged under 18. Abd al-Salam al-Saadi, a coach in Sanaa, sees another key factor: "The players have not been drawn into politics.": photo by Muhammad Huwais/AFP, 19 April 2018
To build the youth team, selectors travelled the length of the country, including war zones and sectors controlled by rival factions: photo by Muhammad Huwais/AFP, 19 April 2018
Coexistence [Dhaka]: photo by Md. Enamul Kabir, 14 April 2018
Coexistence [Dhaka]: photo by Md. Enamul Kabir, 14 April 2018
Coexistence [Dhaka]: photo by Md. Enamul Kabir, 14 April 2018
Seljalandfoss, Iceland: photo by Miguel M.A.S., circa 2016
Kochanowski088: photo by andy kochanowski, 31 December 1969
Kochanowski088: photo by andy kochanowski, 31 December 1969
Kochanowski088: photo by andy kochanowski, 31 December 1969
Ancienne prison de l'EI, le stade de Raqa, aux gradins toujours criblés de balles, renoue avec le football @Delilsouleman #AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @afpfr, 17 April 2018
He was once held underneath #Raqa's stadium, a prisoner of #ISIS - Now Aziz al-Sajer has returned to the pitch -- only this time, with a #football. @AFP #Syria #AFP: image via AFP Beirut @AFP_Beirut, 17 April 2018
He was once held underneath #Raqa's stadium, a prisoner of #ISIS - Now Aziz al-Sajer has returned to the pitch -- only this time, with a #football. @AFP #Syria #AFP: image via AFP Beirut @AFP_Beirut, 17 April 2018
Syrians take part in a football match on April 16, 2018 between local teams at a stadium in Raqa that the Islamic State group once used as a prison #AFP / Delil souleiman: image via AFP Photo @AFP, 16 April 2018
#Syria A jail under IS, Raqa's stadium back to hosting football. #AFP Photo @Delilsouleman: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 18 April 2018
#Syria A jail under IS, Raqa's stadium back to hosting football. #AFP Photo @Delilsouleman: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 18 April 2018
#Syria Syrians watch a football match on April 16, 2018 between local teams at a stadium in Raqa that the Islamic State group once used as a prison. #AFP Photo @Delilsouleman: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 18 April 2018
#Syria A player celebrates after a football match on April 16, 2018 between local teams at a stadium in Raqa that the Islamic State group once used as a prison. #AFP Photo @Delilsouleman: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 18 April 2018
#Colombia XXXI International Book Fair of Bogota, where Argentina is this year's guest of honour, in Bogota. #AFPphoto by @RAULARBOLEDA: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 19 April 2018
#Argentina. Brazil's Corinthians' Rodriguinho (front) vies against Argentina's Independiente Fabricio Bustos during their Copa Libertadores football match at Libertadores de America stadium in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires#AFPphoto by @imabromata: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 19 April 2018
Brazil. Flamengo player Lincoln kicks the ball during the 2018 Copa Libertadores football match against Colombia's Independiente Santa Fe, at Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. AFPphoto by @mauropimentel: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 19 April 2018
Yemen's qualification offers a glimmer of hope and a distraction from everyday life in what was the Arab world's poorest country even before the war: photo by Muhammad Huwais/AFP, 19 April 2018
Football'miracle' offers shared goal for war-torn Yemen: AFP News, 19 April 2018
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.
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".
Paradoxically, Yemeni football has benefited from the war, with senior players relocated to a training camp in Qatar, which has the most up-to-date facilities as it builds up to hosting the 2022 World Cup.
Yemen's war has left infrastructure, homes, schools and ports in ruins. Dozens of stadiums have been bombed or turned into military camps for various armed factions.
For football fans back home, Yemen's successful qualification offers a glimmer of hope and a distraction from everyday life in what was the Arab world's poorest country even before the war.
It has "helped put a smile on the face of Yemeni youths, who need reasons to be happy and to forget", said Saleh Hanash, another fan in Aden.
More than half of Yemen's 27-million-population are aged under 18.
According to the UN children's agency UNICEF, more than 1,500 children have been killed in the conflict, while hundreds of minors have been recruited into militias.
After a three-year hiatus, football is making a return to Aden, which Yemen's internationally-recognised government has declared its provisional capital while Sanaa remains in rebel hands.
The national league has been suspended but football matches are being played in the southern port city, with local tournaments organised between districts.
To build the youth team, selectors travelled the length of the country, including war zones and sectors controlled by rival factions: photo by Muhammad Huwais/AFP, 19 April 2018
Football in Yemen "doesn't gather the crowds you see next door in Gulf states", said Fadel al-Wasabi, one of a handful of fans seated on green plastic chairs as two clubs battled it out on a dirt pitch beside a wall pocked by shellfire.
"Maybe that's because Yemenis are preoccupied with securing their basic needs," he said, glancing over at a nearby stadium, bombed out and filled with debris, its stands reduced to a heap of rubble.
Ahmed Hussein Husseini, head of Aden's main sports organisation, admitted it was a tall order: "In the shadow of war we are trying, as much as possible, to bring back the spirit and adapt our lives."
Yemen Football 'miracle' offers shared goal for war-torn Yemen. #AFP Photo Muhammad Huwais: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 19 April 2018
The UN is negotiating with the Russian and Syrian authorities for the OPCW's team of experts to visit the Duma.: photo @ HAMZA AL-AJWEH / AFP, 19 April 2016
Une image prise sur une vidéo de la Défense civile syrienne montre des volontaires aidant des enfants victimes d'une attaque chimique présumée à Douma, le 8 avril 2018: image © HO AFP, 8 April 2018
1. Cardiologist alleges White Helmets faked photos because EEG pads are misplaced: 12,000 retweets 2. Cardiologist admits he was mistaken and the EEG pads are placed correctly: 22 retweets: image via Olivia Solon @olliviasolon, 17 April 2018
1. Cardiologist alleges White Helmets faked photos because EEG pads are misplaced: 12,000 retweets 2. Cardiologist admits he was mistaken and the EEG pads are placed correctly: 22 retweets: image via Olivia Solon @olliviasolon, 17 April 2018
L'enquête sur une attaque chimique présumée en Syrie au point mort par @GebeilyM #AFP: image via Agence FrancePresse, 18 April 2018
#Cuba. People watch on TV at home in Havana as outgoing Cuban President Raul Castro (R) embraces Cuba's new President Miguel Diaz-Canel. #AFPphoto by @Yamil Lage: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 19 April 2018
#Argentina. Farmers give away 30 tonnes of vegetables in front of the National Congress in Buenos Aires. #AFPphoto by @chatoeitan: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 19 April 2018
Argentina rinde tributo a caídos en las Malvinas 36 años después de la guerra #AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @AFPespanol, 2 April 2018
Argentina rinde tributo a caídos en las Malvinas 36 años después de la guerra #AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @AFPespanol, 2 April 2018
Argentina rinde tributo a caídos en las Malvinas 36 años después de la guerra #AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @AFPespanol, 2 April 2018
Argentina rinde tributo a caídos en las Malvinas 36 años después de la guerra #AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @AFPespanol, 2 April 2018
#Argentina. A man passes by a banner depicting the 42th anniversary of the 1976 coup, along Mayo Avenue in Buenos Aires #AFPphoto by @chatoeitan: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 March 2018
#Argentina An arch of ice starts to collapse at Perito Moreno Glacier. #AFP Photo @WalterDiaz: image via Sophie Chauveau @ s_chauveau, 12 March 2018
El arco del glaciar Perito Moreno cayó sin testigos en Argentina #AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @AFPespanol, 2 April 2018
1. Cardiologist alleges White Helmets faked photos because EEG pads are misplaced: 12,000 retweets 2. Cardiologist admits he was mistaken and the EEG pads are placed correctly: 22 retweets: image via Olivia Solon @olliviasolon, 17 April 2018
L'enquête sur une attaque chimique présumée en Syrie au point mort par @GebeilyM #AFP: image via Agence FrancePresse, 18 April 2018
#Cuba. People watch on TV at home in Havana as outgoing Cuban President Raul Castro (R) embraces Cuba's new President Miguel Diaz-Canel. #AFPphoto by @Yamil Lage: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 19 April 2018
#Argentina. Farmers give away 30 tonnes of vegetables in front of the National Congress in Buenos Aires. #AFPphoto by @chatoeitan: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 19 April 2018
Argentina rinde tributo a caídos en las Malvinas 36 años después de la guerra #AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @AFPespanol, 2 April 2018
Argentina rinde tributo a caídos en las Malvinas 36 años después de la guerra #AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @AFPespanol, 2 April 2018
Argentina rinde tributo a caídos en las Malvinas 36 años después de la guerra #AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @AFPespanol, 2 April 2018
Argentina rinde tributo a caídos en las Malvinas 36 años después de la guerra #AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @AFPespanol, 2 April 2018
#Argentina. A man passes by a banner depicting the 42th anniversary of the 1976 coup, along Mayo Avenue in Buenos Aires #AFPphoto by @chatoeitan: image via AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 26 March 2018
#Argentina An arch of ice starts to collapse at Perito Moreno Glacier. #AFP Photo @WalterDiaz: image via Sophie Chauveau @ s_chauveau, 12 March 2018
#Argentina An arch of ice starts to collapse at Perito Moreno Glacier. #AFP Photo @WalterDiaz: image via Sophie Chauveau @ s_chauveau, 12 March 2018
#Argentina An arch of ice starts to collapse at Perito Moreno Glacier. #AFP Photo @WalterDiaz: image via Sophie Chauveau @ s_chauveau, 12 March 2018
El arco del glaciar Perito Moreno cayó sin testigos en Argentina #AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @AFPespanol, 2 April 2018