( Reuters ) - Asian Cup holders Iraq were confused and annoyed when they were made to listen to the wrong national anthem before their opening match of the King's Cup tournament in Thailand on Saturday.
Lined up facing their national flag with their hands on their hearts, the Iraqi players looked baffled and embarrassed when a tune they had never heard of rang out around the Rajamangala stadium before their match with North Korea.
The crowd were alerted to the bizarre mishap when suited Iraqi federation officials in the VIP enclosure sat down in protest midway through the song, waving their hands in the air and demanding to know what had happened.
"This isn't our anthem, what is this song?" one of the officials shouted. "Where did they get this from?"
The Iraqi team eventually found the right anthem, which was played before the start of the second half to ecstatic cheers from the Iraqi supporters.
Organisers blamed the Iraqi team for giving them the wrong compact disc upon arrival in Bangkok last week.