RAMADI, Iraq - In a country drenched with blood, where sectarian violence and insurgent car bombs claim innocent lives every day, yesterday brought a rare respite of unity and joy.

The underdog Iraqi national soccer team won its first Asian Cup soccer championship, 1-0, defeating Saudi Arabia and giving its beleaguered country a new feeling of pride.

Citizens poured out of their homes to wave the Iraqi flag and dance in the streets. Iraqis across the country fired guns in the air in celebration.

"This is a great honor for Iraq. No one can ever know how happy we are," said Col. Mohammed Ali Abd al-Hadi, chief of the South Ramadi police station, a battle-scarred site in a city that was once the capital of Iraq's insurgency.

"We are a country that's been tied to war since 2003. We haven't had smiles on our faces for a long time," he said. "This shows that no matter how bad the situation, just look what we can do!"

The streets of Ramadi were empty all afternoon as Iraqis sat glued to their television sets. In Baghdad, authorities enforced a curfew to guard against insurgent attacks. The team, playing in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, wore black armbands to commemorate victims of a recent car bombing.

A 71st-minute header from Younis Mahmoud finally clinched the victory. As the team cried and danced on the field, Iraqis across the country were united in their happiness.

"The soccer players, they are Sunni, Shiite, Kurd - but theywork together with one hand. This is the first step for us," said Iseel Hussein Aliwi, who lives in Ramadi. "If we can do this, we can do anything."

The U.S. Marines in Ramadi, who just months ago were fighting insurgents here, sat and watched the game with their Iraqi counterparts, drinking chai tea and eating oranges and watermelon.

"It's something we haven't seen in a long time, especially in Ramadi," said Capt. Bill Weber of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines.

Iraqis gasped as their TV sets showed scenes that were unimaginable only a month ago: Kurds raised the Iraqi flag in their mostly autonomous northern region.

"Now if only the politicians could get along like the soccer team," Ramadi Police Col. Ahmed Hamid Sharji Alwani said.

In New York, Iraq Ambassador Hamid al-Bayati said the victory "gives us some kind of hope, some feeling there is something good about Iraq."

Suleiman el-Hakeem, an Iraq-born livery cab driver who lives in Astoria, Queens, said he was thrilled to see jubilant children in the streets of his homeland.

"Usually it's about killing, sadness and politics. But today it was about soccer," Hakeem said. "Everybody was happy."