After being banished to the footballing wilderness for a brief but worrying spell by the sport's world governing body FIFA, the defending continental champions are back in the Asian football fold and preparing to defend their title.
"Let us speak after prayers," said Saeed, after being woken by the ringing telephone in his five-star hotel room.
The Arabian peninsula might be obsessed with football - Qatar is also making a bold bid to host the 2022 World Cup - but not even anxiety over being drawn into an Asian Cup group of death could distract the faithful from the muezzin's call to Friday Prayers here.
"It is not going to be easy to retain the Asian Cup title. As you know, there have been some matters in Iraqi football and we had to stop everything," said Saeed.
In May 2008, the then Baghdad government crossed FIFA's forbidden threshold and interfered in footballing matters, dissolving the national Olympic Committee and with it the national team.
Politics have long dogged the country's most popular sport.
His motivational techniques included threats of amputation while losses or missed penalties resulted in the flogging of players' feet with thorn bush branches.
Yet politics remains central to Iraq's future success, conceded Saeed and Shakir as they waited for the draw to find out who they will face when they defend their prized silverware at next January's 22-day quadrennial tournament in Doha.
"We have the spirit, and even though my experienced players are scattered across the region's professional leagues, we are united," said Shakir.
"But we don't have any finances. We don't have proper infrastructure nor do we even have enough trained coaches," he said, his face etched with anxiety as he described the polling station recounts and controversy surrounding the recent general election back in his troubled homeland.
"We hope the government will be formed sooner rather than later, and we get the support and financial backing for upcoming tournaments," he added.
