Noor made a crucial save to steer Iraq to a 4-3 win on penalties over South Korea to advance to their first tournament final, in Jakarta on Sunday.

The Iraqis, the inspirational story of the Asian Cup, will play off for the trophy against either defending champions Japan or former titleholders Saudi Arabia.

Noor illustrated the grim personal cost his teammates have endured to play at the Asian Cup and how they are playing their part in lifting spirits for those suffering in the Iraq conflict.

"You know the current situation in Iraq and the difficulties we are going through," man-of-the-match Noor told a post-match press conference.

"Four days before we came to Bangkok my wife's brother died and my teammate Hawar Mohammed lost his step-mother.

"We know we are struggling inside Iraq and we are struggling on the playing field because it is a very modest thing we can give to our people.

"We have to struggle, we have to show them that we are sharing all what we are achieving here."

The decisive breakthrough came in the shoot-out when Noor pushed Yeom Ki-hun's attempt past the post and then Kim Jung-woo's shot hit the post and bounced away.

Iraq are now just one match away from completing their greatest football achievement after they reached the semi-final of the 2004 Athens Olympics and the final of last year's Asian Games in Doha.

It is Iraq's first-ever Asian Cup final after getting as far as the 1976 semifinal against Kuwait, which went to extra time.

In emotional scenes at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Iraqi players rushed to their supporters to grab national flags as other players wept with joy when realisation hit that they had won.