The team's Brazilian coach Jorvan Vieira, who has worked with 26 clubs and five national teams, says his short-term job with Iraq has been the toughest of his career.

"Everything has gone wrong -- hotels, food, equipment, players, training, logistics. You cannot imagine what we have been through," Vieira said.

"Because of this, no one expected us to be where we are. What we have done has totally shocked people."

Vieira had only two months to prepare the squad in the safety of neighbouring Jordan, but when stubborn Baghdad clubs refused to release players, his first training sessions were attended by only six people.

On the eve of national team games, players would pull out of the squad to return to their club sides, Vieira said, and he was far from popular with local coaches, who saw him as a foreign intruder on their turf.

Some of his players have been exposed to the grim reality of life in Iraq and are tormented by death threats and kidnappings and the loss of loved ones to car bombings and brutal murders.

The 54-year-old also inherited a squad split by sectarian infighting between Shi'tes and minority Sunni Arabs.

"I had problems with the group, there was no kind of unity, the relationship between the players was bad," he said. "I had to find a solution to this, and got them to like each other and not bring their personal or political differences here.

"We could not have them at war with each other," he added.

Iraq's 1-1 draw with hosts Thailand in the opening match of the Asian Cup came somewhat as a miracle given their haphazard run-up to the competition.

They arrived in Bangkok with old kit and without training equipment, and were joined on the eve of their first match by two jetlagged, match-weary players, who were detained for eight hours by Thai immigration officials after more than a day of travelling.Bangkok's notorious traffic snarl-ups disrupted training sessions, which often took place late at night in the pouring rain, and their unfamiliarity with the fiery Thai cuisine saw them order Middle-Eastern takeaways every night or dine in the city's predominantly Arab districts.

After beating Vietnam in the quarterfinals, Iraq arrived in Kuala Lumpur to find only seven rooms were available for their 30 players, who spent much of the day waiting in the hotel lobby.

To make matters worse, they discovered their rooms were being occupied by the Iranian national team, who had already been knocked out of the tournament.

Vieira is hoping Iraq's nightmare story will have a happy ending, though, when they meet thee-times winners Saudi Arabia in Sunday's all-Middle East final in Jakarta.

"This has all made us closer as a team and stronger as players and as men," Vieira said. "The players have problems in their lives, they are not normal footballers.

"We are all chasing this victory, it would be something very special for the players and the people."

Saudi Arabia coach Helios dos Anjos was also ecstatic about his team's win over Japan and said that luck has had nothing to do with their charge into the Asian Cup final.

Dos Anjos has had to fend off persistent criticism back home in Riyadh that his team have rode their luck through the tournament rather than stamping their mark on it. But the big Brazilian said the fighting 3-2 semi-final win over Japan on Wednesday was the perfect riposte to the cynics.

"One thing that I have heard throughout this tournament is that we have been lucky," he said.

"Luck might happen in one game but not in every game and we have answered the people that have said we have been lucky."

The victory went down well in Saudi Arabia with people pouring onto the streets waving flags and dancing, with long convoys of cars winding through Riyadh and Jeddah, fans honking horns, singing and yelling.

Dos Angos paid tribute not just to his players, but also to the backroom staff he brought with him from Brazil for ensuring the team was in peak condition.

"We told the (Saudi Arabian) federation that I would bring the best fitness and medical staff from Gremio club in Brazil," he said.

"And even though we had less time to prepare for this match and trouble travelling from Jakarta this victory (over Japan) was the fruit of their labour."

The 49-year-old, who took over from compatriot Marcos Paqueta in March, must now prime his side for their final encounter in Jakarta on Sunday with Iraq, managed by another Brazilian in Jorvan Vieira.

"It has been a victory for Arabian football, especially for Iraq because everyone knows what is happening there," he said of the unexpected all-Arab final.

"These victories will bring happiness to the people of Iraq and of Saudi Arabia."