In 1986, Iraq qualified to play in a World Cup for the first time. It was the years of Saddam Hussein, the military leader who attached great importance to sports to promote his regime. Trained by a former Barça player, the Brazilian Evaristo de Macedo, Iraq lost all three matches played in Mexico by a narrow margin. One of the team's stars, Basil Gorgis, was sent off in the match against Belgium and upon returning to Baghdad, he was imprisoned for 10 days as punishment. Gorgis then only thought about fleeing, as he was from the Assyrian minority, an ancient nation that embraced Christianity and suffered repression in Saddam's times. In fact, Basil's sister, Mariam, had been kidnapped and executed in 1979, a fact that was not communicated to the Gorgis family until years later.