by Rob Woollard
ATHENS, Aug 12 (AFP) - War-weary Iraq marked their return to Olympic football after a 16-year absence with a fairytale 4-2 victory over Portugal Thursday as highly rated Italy scrambled a lucky 2-2 draw with Ghana.
Iraq, who made the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup in China last month, went into the Group D match as underdogs against a Portuguese side boasting a wealth of top class talent including Manchester United`s Cristiano Ronaldo.
They endured a chaotic build-up to the Athens Games, with the ravages of war in their homeland forcing them to play all their home qualifying matches in neutral Jordan while their German coach Bernd Stange in July citing concerns over deteriorating security, leaving assistant Adnan Hamd in charge.
Iraq took the upper hand against Portugal when the Europeans had Fulham`s Luis Boa Morte sent off in the second-half with the scores locked at 2-2.
Iraq had fallen behind through a Haidar Jabar own goal before hitting back to lead thanks to Emad Mohammed and Hawar Mulla Mohammed.
Portugal were level by the break thanks to Bosingwa before the match exploded in the second half when Boa Morte saw red card which paved the way for Younis Mahmoud to score the third.
Substitute Salih Sadir wrapped up the famous upset win in injury time.
"Everybody expected Portugal to win," said Mahmoud. "But we played very good football, showing that we are a good team and we pulled off a surprise."
Portugal meanwhile were lucky not to have been reduced to 10 earlier in the match when Ronaldo escaped with a yellow card after elbowing Younis Mahmoud, causing a deep cut on the Iraqi player`s brow.
In Group B, Alberto Gilardino grabbed an equaliser seven minutes from time as Italy fought back from two goals down to scrape a 2-2 draw against Ghana, the 1992 Olympic bronze medallists.
The Parma marksman, the second highest scorer in Serie A last season with 23 goals, pounced after Ghana goalkeeper George Owu had failed to hold on to his first shot to save Italy`s blushes and rescue a point.
The Italians, who in June won the European under-21 championships in Germany, provided all the flair and neat touches but they were stunned by two clinical first-half strikes from Emmanuel Pappoe and Stephen Appiah.
Coached by 1982 World Cup winner Claudio Gentile, Italy hit back shortly after the break through Giampiero Pinzi and Gilardino denied Ghana a precious victory with his late leveller.
"During the first half, we had to go through the disappointment of the two goals but we were much stronger in the first half," said Gilardino.
Despire being pegged back, Ghana defender Emmanuel Osei said his side was satisfied with the point.
"It`s not a bad beginning," he said. "We played against one of the strongest teams in the tournament and the important thing is we didn`t lose. I believe we can qualify for the next round."
In Thursday`s other games, Paraguay defeated Asian powerhouses Japan 4-3 in a Group B game in Salonika while Morocco and Costa Rica drew 0-0 in Group D.
Goals from striker Pablo Gimenez, Edgar Barreto, Jose Cardozo and Aureliano Torres secured the points for the Paraguayans, who withstood a fierce late rally from Japan to clinch victory.
Japan`s goals came via two spotkicks by Feyenoord`s former Asian player of the year Shinji Ono and a late effort by striker Yoshito Okubo.