Tearful Syrian commentator goes viral

Syria’s 93rd minute goal against Iran was described by the television commentator with unmistakable emotion.

Syrian football fans watch the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualification football match in Damascus.

Television commentator who broke down in tears while celebrating Syria's priceless World Cup qualifying equaliser against Iran has gone viral, racking up more than one million views online.

When Omar Al Soma scored in the 93rd minute, earning Syria a 2-2 draw and a place in the Asian playoffs for Russia 2018, the commentator was overcome with emotion as he shouted excitedly for two minutes. "The second goal for our national team! The second goal for our national team! Who scored?! Soma! It had to be Soma! It had to be Soma!" he said, according to a translation by Twitter user Mohamed Osama, who posted footage of the incident.

Syrian commentator breaks into tears after Omar Al-Somah's historic goal against Iran. Goosebumps. pic.twitter.com/MSUC2IBCD0

— Mohamed Osama (@_DrOsama) September 5, 2017

 

"Allah Soma! The equalising goal! The equalising goal! Pardon me! I've lost it! No one can stop them!"

The repeated shouts of "Allah!", which echoed the famous "Goooooal" celebrations of Brazilian TV, finally died down as the commentator began to sob. The tweet from Osama (@_DrOsama) drew 1.2 million views and half-a-million responses such as shares and likes, while footage on YouTube also was also seen hundreds of thousands of times.

War-torn Syria, which has never reached the World Cup, now goes into a two-legged series with Australia, with the winner reaching a playoff against a team from the CONCACAF region.