Ahdaaf » Youth Competitions

The world came to see Neymar but found Iraq

Hassanin Mubarak — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 13:24:12 +0000

In a night of high-drama in Brazil’s capital Brasília – the scenes of jubilation at the final whistle were felt in the early hours in households all over the embattled nation of Iraq, its people wide-awake (the game kicked off at 4.00am Baghdad time) to watch one of Iraq’s greatest and gallant footballing efforts against one of world’s top powers, Brazil. The nation of Pelé, Zico and Garrincha, whose name the stadium where it all played out bears. The Iraqi Olympic team fought like Lions and while just days earlier they faced the same 0-0 outcome, the players were somewhat downcast after the disappointing stalemate with the Danes which had a slight taste of a bitter defeat, this draw however tasted very much like a hard-earned victory.

The resolute and defiant Iraqi coach Abdul-Ghani Shahad returning from his one match touchline ban was the Emperor directing his army on by the sidelines against the youthful Brazilian team – a talented group of fledgling and some day world-class individuals – but, a splintered team at present– and what was plain and so easy to see for every one of the 65,829 spectators at the stadium, was a Brazilian team that was so clearly lacking a true leader.

Neymar Jr. – the superstar of the Camp Nou – has shouldered much of the burden of the nation’s footballing hopes – post-Mineiraço – the 7-1 World Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of the Germans in Belo Horizonte two summers ago – but the captain’s armband has weighed heavy on the forward. Iraq on the other hand, led by the often unsung hero Saad Abdul-Amir, bursting forward through the centre of the park, and the midfielder revelled in the buffeting and tussling that went on, throughout the game.

Iraq came as visitors to the Estádio Mané Garrincha and when the 65,829 strong Brazilian following – started to sing the Hino Nacional Brasileiro, it must have brought a shudder into the hearts of the Iraqi team, however luckily, they were only up against 11 Brazilian players and not the spirited and vocal crowd whose singing of the Brazilian national anthem made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

As he had done in the opening game against Denmark, Iraq’s Abdul-Ghani Shahad sprang a surprise by naming a back-four and sacrificing an extra attacker Ali Husni – absent for most parts of Iraq’s first match – for a holding midfielder in the shape of Saad Natiq – the role he had been accustomed to play during his early days at Al-Najaf.

Shahad also preferred the taller Mohanad Abdul-Rahim ahead of Hamadi Ahmed in attack and the striker almost scored with a header that hit the crossbar from a long throw from Dhargham Ismail, another one of Iraq’s stand-outs on Sunday night or Monday morning if you were watching the game in Iraq. Iraq’s youngest player Amjad Atwan went close with a long range shot and eptimised the work-ethic of Shahad’s team, battling throughout and never giving up.

And we cannot forget the reincarnated goalkeeper Mohammed Hamed – yes, he did roll around and feign injury in attempts to time waste, though the Romanian referee more than compensated the home team for time Iraq’s keeper had dragged out. However saying that, Iraq’s goalkeeper – perceived as the Under-23’s second choice in goal – looked composed and for a player who has played little football over the past twelve months, Mohammed is now earning rave-reviews for his performances at the Olympics.

Midfielder turned full back Humam Tariq selected in the first game, dropped to the bench and in his place came Alaa Mahawi, the player given the unnerving task to mark the talisman Neymar – however the full back whose defensive frailties had been questioned – even by his coach – prior to the Games , gave the Barça man little respect on the turf, constantly at his heels, the boy from Zawraa became the Brazilian captain’s nemesis – Alaa obviously a Madridi and not a Barça fan – irritated the Brazilian No.10 in his challenges at times, fouling him and catching him late in others.

Iraqi artist Ibrahim Salah Hindi mocked up a caricature of Alaa imprisoning Neymar – the right back – as all the world could see – had clearly frustrated the golden boy, maybe not had him completely in his back pocket, but thwarted him to unnerving depths and infuriated him to the level that it nullified his true effectiveness.

No one had given Iraq much hope before the game, just like the South Africans who gained a praiseworthy and commendable point against the hosts in their opening game. But Iraq’s dogged determination, the gheera factor that Iraqi fans speak so much about, was there in full view.

At the final whistle, the local brasileiro fans were chanting ‘Iraque, Iraque, Iraque’ and gave the opposing players a rousing round of applause, they knew and had seen how hard they had fought. The point from the game keeps Iraq’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages well and truly alive. And this is how the Iraqis do it, always against adversity and hardships, as in 2004 Olympics when Adnan Hamad’s team beat Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, this time, Abdul-Ghani Shahad and his boys had humbled Neymar and Brazil.

Every one of Iraq’s team played their part from the kit-man to the goalkeeper, to the team physio, Iraq a team unable to play home matches, fighting terrorism for many years within their borders, daily car bombings, and kidnappings, were unfazed by pre-tournament worries over the ZIKA virus, Neymar or the daily crime and violence in Brazil. Unnerved Iraq have come to Rio to make a statement.

Brazil is a home away from home for the Iraqi players, born under Saddam’s dictatorial regime, living through the UN sanctions, War against the Coalition of the Willing and the post-2003 chaos of their nation in its aftermath, football comes easier than life. Brazil may have taught Iraqi footballers a lesson in their two previous meetings at U-20 and senior level, but this time, Iraq taught them something else. At the end, the Iraqi players reassuringly patted the disenchanted Neymar on his back, “don’t worry” they must have told him “You may have been frustrated for 90 +7 minutes, we have felt that our whole lives. Raise your head, you’re an Iraqi.”

Iraq the nation which barely gets any respect or mention on the world football map, who apparently are making their second appearance at a football tournament at the Olympics according to one football commentator (correction Iraq has actually qualified on five occasions), the “not-so-great footballing nation” says BBC Sport and Brazil’s Goal.com who claimed prior to the start of the competition that Iraq were the weakest team in Group A, have been made to eat their words. But the Iraqis don’t need to talk, they let the football do that for them. Obrigado Brasil but they, the Iraqis, move on and try to complete the mission by beating South Africa in their final group game. Aish Al-Irak. Eu ♥ Iraque

IRAQ OLYMPIC TEAM PROFILE

Hassanin Mubarak — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 15:27:37 +0000

Heroics of the Iraqi football team at the 2004 Olympic Games have been fondly remembered and reminisced over time, the golden generation of Younis Mahmoud, Nashat Akram and Emad Mohammed fell just short of the podium, finishing fourth in Athens. What insiders would not tell you, is that the U-23 Olympics side featured only three players who were actually under 23; the remaining 15 were all over 23 years of age (three of them legitimately in as the squad’s permitted overage players). Saad Attiya, Salih Sadir and Nashat Akram had also altered their real ages to play youth football, but were still under 23 at the time

Not to anyway blemish or lessen the achievements of this remarkable post-war Iraq team, understanding the above does, however, put into context how Adnan Hamad’s ‘Under 23’ team was able to compete with some of the world’s finest U-23 teams featuring would-be stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Andrea Pirlo while Iraq’s players were in their mid to late twenties! Hamad had achieved the same results with the exact same formula four years earlier at the 2000 AFC Asian Youth Championship in Tehran where only two of his 20-man squad were in reality within that age group while the rest had their dates of birth manipulated.

Iraq’s herculean efforts in Greece were lauded, rightly so, even by neo-cons in the White House with then President George W.Bush declaring – to the detest of the Iraqi players and staff – that he would attend the final if Iraq reached it. Ironically this was all made possible by a culture of age-fraud in Iraqi youth football overseen in the era of the ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his Baathist regime. Players are not the sole culprits of this corruption but the dishonest environment so prevalent in the Iraqi game is also largely to blame. Shahad’s men will look to emulate the heroics of the 2004 side and this Iraqi Olympic team will be the future of the Lions of Mesopotamia for the next few years. But is their formula to success a bit different this time? Here we preview the 18 players vying to bring Iraq a medal from the faraway land of football.

1 – Fahad Talib (1994, age 21) – The man who displaced Nour Sabri as Air Force FC’s No.1 keeper has been Abdul-Ghani Shahad’s preferred first choice with the Olympic team from the first day he took charge; Talib started all but one of Iraq’s ten Olympic qualifying campaign matches, cementing his status as the team’s first choice goalkeeper in Rio ahead of the more experienced Mohammed Hamed. However, Talib’s form with his club in the final Elite Stage of the Iraqi league was shaky to say the least. The 21 years old has never played for any shaabiya team, but went straight into the Al Quwa Al-Jawiya’s youth system in his early teens and broke into the first team aged just 16 in 2011-12. Fahad followed in his father Talib Rahim and elder brother Ali’s footsteps when he joined the Blue Falcons. Growing up he would sit on the sidelines listening attentively to his father’s advice to Ali. Fahad was supervised by the goalkeeping coach Hashim Khamis, the ex-Iraq and Al-Jawiya goalkeeper, maintaining that the man the Al-Jawiya supporters know as Al-Tayara (“The Airplane”) had been instrumental in his development, with the Jawiya faithful granting the old nickname of his mentor to their new keeper. At the start of 2014-2015 season Fahad was regarded as the club’s third choice keeper behind Nour Sabri and Mohanad Qasim but the club’s coach at the time, Nadhim Shaker, gave him his chance and he made the no.1 spot his. A good showing at the Olympics could see Fahad Talib handed his international debut by Radhi Shanaishel in the near future and with opponents as strong as Brazil and Denmark, Talib is sure to be tested more than a few times in Rio.

2 Ahmed Ibrahim – (1992, age 24) – Iraq’s vice captain is so highly rated by his manager that he is set to beone of Iraq’s main players in Brazil despite not being contracted to any club since January. Ibrahim was released by UAE’s Al-Dhafra in the January transfer window and as a result has only played 637 minutes in eight matches in the whole of 2016 so far. Shahad has slowly eased Ahmed into the team after over six months away from competitive football and the recent retirements of aging national team defenders Salam Shaker and Ali Rahema means the man from the Mosul province is now considered the bedrock of Iraq’s national defence for the next few years and is one of the first names on the Iraq team-sheet. Ahmed Ibrahim Khalaf Al-Khafaji was born in Al-Qayyarah in Nineveh Province, some 75km south of the city of Mosul. An area recently liberated by Iraqi forces from Da’ish (ISIS) fighters was where Ahmed starred for his local team Al-Qayyarah SC playing in defence and sometimes in midfield and was paid a handsome fee to turn out for the side. With no top division club in his home province, Ahmed moved to Al-Sharqat where he started his top flight career before he was signed by Salah-Al-Deen and then Arbil, a move which opened the door for his international debut in 2010. Only two years after playing local football in Al-Qayyarah, Ahmed was lining up as a starter for the Iraqi national team against India in Sharjah and went onto be named in the 2011 Asian Cup squad. With 53 international appearances under his belt, Ahmed, one of the three overage inclusions, is a senior member of the squad and a future Iraq captain in the making. The Iraqi coach has experimented with playing the commanding defender on the left of a three man defence whereas he usually plays at the heart of the defence. This formation could be used by Shahad against strong hosts Brazil and free-scoring Denmark in Iraq’s two opening Group A games. Ibrahim has already come up against Neymar in a friendly game against Brazil in 2011 in Malmö.

3 Hawbir Moustafa (1993, age 22) – Defender Hawbir Moustafa who plays for MVV Maastricht in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, is the only expatriate player in the Olympic squad after the exclusion of Swindon Town’s Yaser Kasim and forward Ali Akla of Dutch third division side IJsselmeervogels. The right back spot has been a problematic position for coach Abdul-Ghani Shahad since he took over last year, trying-out Safaa Jabar of Zakho and Al-Zawraa’s Alaa Mahawi in the qualifying stages and even looking at the possibility of starting Al-Shurta’s Walid Salim , the senior team’s first choice right back at the Rio Olympics, but after MVV Maastricht signalled the green-light for Hawbir’s participation in Brazil, Shahad has looked to the versatile full back, who can also play on the left or in midfield if needed. In late 2014 Hawbir received a surprise call-up from the Iraq FA and despite possessing no valid Iraqi passport, he made his debut against Yemen in an international friendly in Manama. Born Sulimaniya, his first name Hawbir means “always in the mind” in Kurdish. With Iraq under UN sanctions and the region in turmoil, Hawbir’s father left for the Netherlands in 1997 and three years later, six-year-old Hawbir & his mother followed. They lived in refugee centers in Leiden, Eindhoven and Venlo before settling in the city of Maastricht, where Hawbir’s brother Hawsang “everything is equal” was born. To keep the young Hawbir preoccupied, he would have the ball at his feet on the street and football helped him make friends. A coach at the local football club RKVCL noticed his abilities near the club’s complex and as the player recalls, the coach “literally forced” him to train. Not long after MVV signed him and at just 17, the club’s head coach René Trost gave the fast and agile full back his debut. At the time the player’s papers were not in order however he was given a reprieve by staying on as a player on an amateur basis and has made nearly 100 appearances for “Us MVV’ke” in the Jupiler League since making his debut in 2011 and has been a club regular for the past two seasons. Hawbir is most likely to play a back-up role at the Olympics, with Shahad preferring the attack-minded Alaa Mahawi on the right side of defence but the young Kurd is certainly one for the future.

4 Mustafa Nadhim (1989, age 26?) – The former Iraqi Olympic captain is the team’s most experienced player at Under 23 level, a starter in the Iraqi League for the past eight seasons in the colours of Diwaniya, Al-Najaf, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Arbil and now Naft Al-Wasat. Mustafa Nadhim was one of Hakim Shaker’s youth players and after sitting on the bench throughout the 23rd Gulf Cup in Saudi Arabia, he was given his international debut by his mentor in a friendly against Malaysia. The defender played at right back that day and scored an acrobatic overhead kick, he has since added 2 international goals in his 14 caps. Nadhim’s date of birth recorded in his passport, September 23, 1993 shows the defender is 22 years old. However, this is highly unlikely to be true. Several sources note he was born in 1991 and others in 1989. The defender played University football, supposedly aged 16 when in Iraq most people would begin university at 18. In that same year, 2010, Mustafa helped guide his University to the Southern Universities Championship title for the first time with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Kufa University with one of the goals scored by another Olympic player Safa Jabar. Age aside Mustafa is an important member of Shahad’s team and in the run-up to the tournament the defender was out for more than a month at the start of the year and only returned to full fitness in late May but with Shahad having worked with him at Al-Najaf and knowing his standing in the team, he has patiently waited for Mustafa to return to full-fitness and he will be expected to marshal the heart of the defence in Rio.

5 Ali Faiz (1994, age 21) – A ball-playing central defender who has long been tipped to be the natural successor to Ali Rahema in the national team. The player demonstrated his versatility in a torrid stint at Al-Shurta last season in a holding midfield role in front of a central defence duo. Shahad deployed him in the same position during the Olympic team’s training camp in Europe this summer, but the defender is also capable of playing at right back. A former graduate from the Ammo Baba Football School, Ali has played at every age group level for the Iraqi national team from U-14s to the senior team and at the age of just 21, has already represented Iraq at the Asian Cup, the WAFF Championship and the Gulf Cup. He was handed his international debut by Serbian Vladimir Petrović in 2013 at the age of 18 years, 11 months and 5 days, becoming one of the youngest players to represent Iraq. However he was given a baptism of fire in his first game when he came up against Chilean stars Alexis Sánchez and Arturo Vidal – a game which ended in a 6-0 defeat at the Brøndby Stadion in Copenhagen. Ali has played just eight times for the national side since making his debut three years ago but with the rebuilding of the national team under Radhi Shanaishel the defender could be one of the first names on Iraq’s team sheet in a next couple of years. Ali is on the verge of a new chapter in his career after signing a five-year contract with Turkish Super League side Çaykur Rizespor this summer to play alongside Dhargham Ismail and Ali Husni and a lot is expected from the dead-ball specialist who idolised Xabi Alonso growing up. A regular during the qualification campaign, the defender will be a luxury reserve at the Olympics, with the older defensemen preferred by Shahad in his new-look backline.

6 Ali Adnan (1991, age 24) – The footballing juggernaut of a left back who almost gave up on football altogether after he failed to make the cut in his teens with the Iraqi Under 17s. Now one of Iraq’s top footballing exports and plying his trade at Udinese in Italy’s Serie A, Ali has stepped up a level, taking on more responsibility as a senior member of the national team, showing his leadership qualities. His recent displays in Tehran during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers where he played a part in all goals in the 2-2 draw with Thailand and the 1-0 victory over Vietnam which clinched Iraq’s place, were evidence of this new-found die-hard spirit. Since his break-through performances at the World Youth Cup in Turkey three years ago, there have been comparisons made to Real Madrid galáctico Gareth Bale, however he has some way to go before he reaches those heights and is variably a different type of player to the Welsh wonder. However, Ali is not the same kind of footballer, he is a modern overlapping left back, rather than a left winger as Iraq’s ex-coach Yahya Alwan had previously deployed him. His crossing is best from dead-ball situations than when he is in full-flow on the ball. His performances in his first season in Italy’s Serie A have been encouraging although he has been unable cement his place in the first team at the Stadio Friuli despite making 28 appearances in the 2015-2016 season. With a new man in charge at Udinese in Giuseppe Iachini, Ali Adnan has even more to prove and there is added speculation over his future in Italy. The defender follows in the footsteps of his namesake uncle, Al-Zawraa’s legendary forward Ali Kadhim, who represented Iraq in the 1980 Olympics which was to be his last appearances for the Iraqi national team. For young Ali, the Olympics should be just another stepping stone.

7 Hamadi Ahmed (1983, 32) – A lot has passed since Hamadi Ahmed was first handed his international debut by Brazilian Zico four years ago. The Ishaqi-born forward has waited patiently for his opportunity as Iraq’s first choice striker and after the retirement of legendary captain and forward Younis Mahmoud this year, the Olympics in Brazil could be the place where Hamadi kick starts his Iraq career after years of continuous stop-starts. His shock inclusion came after Yaser Kasim and Abdul-Qadir Tariq were dropped for disciplinary and passport issues. Abdul-Qadir “Aboudi” Tariq’s absence arose after he was detained by security authorities at Najaf International Airport over issues relating to his passport as he was about to make his way with the Iraqi delegation for their two warm-up friendlies against Algeria in Blida. With both Yaser and Abdul-Qadir absent, it left one spot open for an overage player and a striker, to be vacated by Hamadi Ahmed, scoring just 17 minutes after coming on as a second half substitute against Algeria. Hamadi Ahmed Abdullah Al-Taie was born in the town of Ishaqi in the Balad district in Salah-Al-Deen province on October 18, 1989 however there were suggestions made by Olympic coach Nadhim Shaker that the player was born in 1983. The story goes that the player had applied for a visa to Amman to play for Iraq at the West Asian Championship after he was selected by German Wolfgang Sidka, however for unknown reason, the player failed to get a visa and sat out the tournament. Months later he was called-up for the Olympic team by Nadhim Shaker, Sidka’s assistant but with the knowledge that the player had previously applied for a visa with a passport noting the year of birth as 1983, making him ineligible to play at Under 23 level, the coach Nadhim Shaker decided to omit the player so the Iraq FA would not suffer any sanctions from the AFC or FIFA. Confirming the suspicions that he was born in 1983 the player had represented Tikrit University at the Arab University Championship in Cairo in 2006. The player started his career with two local clubs in the lower divisions, first at hometown side Al-Ishaqi and then Al-Balad. In 2004, he moved to first division club Salah-Al-Deen where he spent only a season before making his name at Samarra becoming the club’s main striker and match-winner and is fondly remembered by their fans. His move to Baghdad giants Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya came about after he was one of the provincial players called into the national team after the appointment of German Wolfgang Sidka in 2010 and roomed with Al-Jawiya’s Ahmed Ayad – who was the go-between with the player and the Al-Jawiya club officials and after he was given his release papers by Samarra, he signed for the famous club. The Al-Jawiya forward has been on hot-form with 12 goals in the Iraqi League last season and another 12 goals in the AFC Cup as his side topped Group C. The nippy forward also helped Al-Jawiya to the World Military Cup as the club represented Iraq in the 2013 CISM World Military Cup where Hamadi was the tournament’s top scorer with nine goals in Baku. Hamadi is a poacher in the six-yard box and has been one of the most prolific goal scorers in the Iraqi league scoring 74 goals in his six seasons with the Blue Falcons in the league including 27 goals in a single season in his second season at the club where he was league top scorer for the first time in his career. Last season, Hamadi was joint top scorer with fellow Olympic striker Mohanad Abdul-Rahim with 12 goals and his years of experience will be crucial for Iraq at the Rio Olympics, if they want to advance to the knock-out stages.

8 Mohanad Abdul-Rahim (1989, age 26) – The 2012 AFC Young Player of the Year arrives in Brazil on the back of his best season to date, with 12 goals for the White Seagulls, the current Iraqi league champions Al-Zawraa. Olympic coach Abdul-Ghani Shahad has hedged his bets on the Baghdad-born striker scoring the goals that will propel Iraq into the last 16 at the Olympics. However Mohanad has a secret that the Iraqi media and the FA will not want you to know. The player’s real name is Mohanad Abdul-Rahman Kazar the name he was registered with at Al-Karkh in the 2010-2011 season and was actually born in 1989 making him 26 years and not 22. His passport expires in 2018 and with players finding it difficult to renew their passports with a forged date of birth, this secret could become public in the next couple of years. The Iraqi coach denies any knowledge of age fraud in his team, citing that each member of his squad is eligible to play at youth level as they possessed valid AFC IDs, however he must have known the striker’s real name as Mohanad once scored against Abdul-Ghani Shahad’s Al-Najaf team just before he changed his name! From a young age, the childhood Al-Zawraa supporter and son of a tribal Sheikh would spend his free time on the concrete pitches in his local neighbourhood kicking a ball with friends. It was his late uncle Razzaq who encouraged him to take up the game and coached him with his first shaabiya team with Najoum Al-Mualameen and Iskan Al-Shaabi, the two main football teams in his local area between Iskan and Mualameen where both sides wanted the talented youngster in their team. Mohanad had trials with Khutout under Ismail Saleem however he was overlooked and instead started in the Al-Karkh youth system and had a season at Al-Shabab in the second division after he returned from living in Syria to escape the instability of the Iraqi capital – after losing his uncle and brother Mohammed to the violence in Baghdad. His life changed when his late coach Nasrat Nassir at Baghdad’s Al-Karkh Sports Club switched him from playing as a wide forward to play upfront centre forward position while he was breaking into the Al-Karkh first team and in early 2011 by virtue of a new passport and altered date of birth, he was called into the Iraq U-19s team becoming the main striker in Hakim Shaker’s ‘young’ team, scoring a goal in the AFC Youth Championship final and going onto be awarded the 2012 AFC Young Player of the Year award. Mohanad spent the 2014-14 season abroad in Algeria for JSK Kabylie where he played 12 matches and netted four goals in the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1. However his stint in North Africa began in tragic circumstances with the death of Cameroonian team-mate Albert Ebossé who was killed on Mohanad’s debut against USM Alger with the African player fatally struck on the head by a projectile thrown by one of the angry JSK fans while the players were leaving the field. Injuries blighted his time in Algeria, made worse by the synthetic astroturf pitches in the Algerian league and despite scoring two goals against MC El Eulma and receiving an offer French side Angers SCO after he was contacted by an agent about a move to Ligue 2. But even after receiving several contract offers from Algerian and Egyptian clubs he decided to leave JSK. The player, with a young daughter and wife, wanted stability in his life and regular first team football and decided to sign for the club he supported growing up, Al-Zawraa. While in Algeria, Mohanad had an offer to play for Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya for one stage of the Iraqi league however the club administration wanted to sign him but did not want play him as a starter as they were looking to him for the future, so he decided to join Al-Zawraa to play for free, however he was unable to move because of an administrative error. The striker is at the peak of his powers and will be Shahad’s main attacking threat at the Olympics. The coach has shown huge loyalty to Mohanad and the forward has returned the confidence the coach has shown in him with goals, injured prior to the qualifying campaign, Mohanad played in every one of Iraq’s six matches in Doha scoring two goals including the opener in the third/fourth play-off game and came off the bench in Iraq’s recent World Cup qualifier to score or thigh-in the winner against Vietnam which clinched Iraq’s place in the next round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Turning 27 this year, Mohanad is one of players arriving at the peak of his career and in the next couple of years, could see him become Iraq’s first choice striker.

Mohanad Abdul-Rahman scores for Al-Karkh against Zakho in the 2010-2011 Iraqi League season

9 Mahdi Kamil (1993, age 23)– The playmaker is one of Iraq’s most improved players, a key man for the Olympic team, increasingly making his presence felt with the senior team, with a crucial goal – his first for the national team – coming in Iraq’s disappointing 2-2 draw with Thailand in Tehran earlier in March this year. Mahdi is one of the U-23’s key players and has been used a variety of positions in midfield and out on the flanks. The Baghdad-born midfielder comes from a sporting background with his elder brother having been played at Al-Jaish while his three cousins Mohanad, Adnan and Ahmed Nassir were also footballers, Mohanad going onto play for Iraq’s youth team and once played against Brazil. In 2007, Ahmed Nassir then of Al-Sinaa was hurt in a twin suicide bombing that took the lives of 80 Iraqis at the Al-Shourjah market in the city of Baghdad and his playing career was ended after his leg amputated from the hip down. His cousin Mohanad Nassir played against Brazil at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina, and the No.9 hopes to emulate his relative by lining up against the Brazilians at the Olympics. In his youth, Mahdi was destined to make it as a footballer, kicking a ball around his local shaabiya field for his local team Anwar Baghdad in Qataa (sector) 5 in Sadr City, people would often tell him that he should try out for a club. The youngster who brushed away their calls but after one local game that changed when a team-mate of his decided to take it upon himself to take him to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya for try-outs. His team-mate took him to the Air Force Club and Mahdi was picked after trials and won a title with the Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Ishbal (“Cubs”) under Bashar Latif and Sami Shabib and progressed to the Under 17s under the supervision of Mohammed Nassir. His life forever changed when in a friendly between Al-Jawiya U17s and Iraq’s U17s, Mahdi Kamil in the blue shirt stood-out and impressed the U-17s coach Muwafaq Hussein earning him a call-up to the team. The diminutive street-urchin played in the qualifying rounds for the Under 17s and after the competition with interest from Baghdad rivals Al-Shurta, and with limited playing time at Al-Jawiya, Mahdi decided it was time to move on and signed for Al-Shurta after he impressed officials Mohammed Khalaf and one of the club’s coach Adnan Jafar. However despite signing his first senior contract he never got a game and was placed in the youth team until coach Basim Qasim was appointed and Mahdi eventually made his full league debut. The player has matured from when he first started out, forced to sit impatiently on the bench early on in his career, Mahdi often thought of quitting football, however his own mother advised him to be patient and it was the making of the midfielder, understanding that the coach needed him at specific moments in matches, to a change a game. In his fifth season at the Police Club, Mahdi is considered one of Al-Shurta’s senior players and captained the club in the Iraqi league last season in the absence of injured club captain Amjad Kelaf. Standing at 1.64 m (5 ft 4 1⁄2 inches), Mahdi always had his doubters even when he was called to the Under 17s, however the player the Qithara faithful call Zola after the tiny ex-Italy and Chelsea playmaker Gianfranco Zola, has showed in the past couple of years that he’s more than capable of imposing himself on opponents in the Iraqi league despite his slight frame and lack of height. That belief in his own abilities, may come from his long-admiration for Catalan giants Barcelona and their brand of tiki-taka football, a style more reliant on passing and skill than on strength. A self-confessed Barça fan and an admirer of Andrés Iniesta who the Iraqi player calls a painter with the ball seemingly stuck to his feet and insists the Barcelona maestro does not merely kick a ball but cresses it, much like an artist’s brush on a flat canvas and sees him on a completely different wavelength as a footballer even to Lionel Messi. Perfecting his own ball skills, Mahdi would spend hours observing Barcelona’s No.8 and admitted he studied and learned how to pirouette on the ball from the Spanish genius. A versatile player, Mahdi has been used in several positions with the Olympic team and the national side, at right and left wing, in central midfield and as a withdrawn forward and is certain to be one of first names on Shahad’s team-sheet in Brazil.

10 Ali Husni (1994, age 22) – Newly married and about to embark on a European adventure with Çaykur Rizespor with fellow Olympic colleagues Dhargham Ismail and Ali Faiz, the Karbala-born wide-man will be a key figure for the Iraqi Olympic side at the Rio Games. Seven months ago, the talisman shouldered much of the team’s attacking burden during the Olympic qualifying campaign and was Iraqi team’s standout player and main inspiration throughout their qualifiers. The lively winger had long been touted as the future star of Iraq’s midfield but was continuingly ignored by former national coach Hakim Shaker, in what seemed to have been a personal grudge against the midfielder for his public outburst after he was dropped from the 2013 FIFA Youth Cup squad. He would eventually make his debut in the last minutes of a friendly game against North Korea that same year but was overlooked by the same coach for the Asian Games in Busan and the Gulf Cup in Saudi Arabia. Not until Hakim was sacked after the calamitous results in Riyadh and the appointment of Radhi Shanaishel did Ali Husni get a fair crack at the whip and after appearances against Kuwait and Uzbekistan, the Iraqi coach selected him in the final squad at the 2015 Asian Cup Down Under but had no playing time. Under Yahya Alwan, who gave him his first Olympic call-up, Ali was a regular starter in the national team and scored his first international goal in a 5-1 win over Chinese Taipei and is a significant member of the new generation of the Iraqi national team, post-2007. Ali Husni Faisal was born in 1994, in the province of Karbala however started his football progressing through the youth ranks of the grand old Basra Port Club under the supervision of Mohammed Abdul-Hussein and broke into the first team during the 2012-2013 season becoming one of the club’s pivotal players. Ali’s loss through injury at the Elite Stage of the Iraqi League was felt hard by Al-Safana after he had been outstanding in the opening Group stage of the Iraqi league season where they had finished a point behind leaders Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, however without Ali, the team’s main playmaker and the club’s top scorer Syrian Omar Khrbin – who left for Al-Dhafra in the UAE, Al-Minaa could only finish sixth in the Elite Stage. Today, Ali is on the cusp of something big, with his new coach at Rizespor already dazzled by his abilities after just a couple of days in training and adding that he could be one of the best players in the Turkish league this coming season.

11 Humam Tariq (1993, age 23) – The heir to Baghdad’s renowned Faraj & Sons Confectionary Company was one of Iraq’s prime performers at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Doha. Humam played his heart out throughout Iraq’s qualification campaign to Rio despite suffering the loss of his father prior to the start of the tournament. In spite of losing his place in the national team last year carelessly giving away the penalty that rallied Thailand’s come-back in Bangkok after coming on as a second half substitute, the twinkle-toed Humam is an integral part of the Olympic set-up and is one of the first names on Shahad’s team-sheet. His position out on the left has become his own natural domain. Hard-working and technically gifted, Humam has a lot to offer his team and with the confidence shown in him by his coach, he could have the kind of tournament that got him noticed three years ago at the FIFA World Youth Cup in Turkey. A lot had been expected of the No.11 since then, but the midfielder has faltered to deceive and has been unable to find the right team at club level after he was discarded by UAE Arabian Gulf League club Al-Ahly. In the summer of 2014 after putting pen to a two-year deal with the Dubai club – Humam was sent out on loan to minnows Al-Dhafra – where his displays failed to impress Al-Ahly’s Romanian coach Cosmin Olăroiu, who believed he was not worth a place in his squad for the 2015-2016 season. Turned down for a second season by Cosmin, he decided to return home to Baghdad and the Blue Falcons, buckling down last season, winning the Iraqi Cup, his first piece of silverware with his childhood club. At the turn of the year there were rumours of an offer of a trial from Serie A side Udinese presumably a wasta from Olympic team-mate and close friend Ali Adnan and the player insisted he would travel to Italy for a trial after the World Cup qualifiers in March, however those statements proved to be short-lived as Humam, instead of flying to Italy, finished the season at Al-Jawiya, winning the Iraqi Cup title with a win over league champions in the final. During the U-23’s preparations in the run-up to the Rio Olympics, Humam was given leave to negotiate a transfer to Turkish Süper Lig club Bursaspor however the move fell through at the last minute after the club refused for him to play at the Olympics as it was important for him to represent his country. The experienced 23-year-old with 33 international appearances at senior level–will be in the shop window at the Rio Games and more importantly will have something to prove.

12 Mohammed Hamed (1989, age 27) – Mohammed Hamed knows exactly how it feels to fall from grace, one minute he’s the country’s number one keeper and the next he’s spending seven months without a club. The ex-Iraqi youth captain who only three years ago was regarded as one of Iraq’s best keepers is slowly rebuilding his career after goalkeeping mistakes against Saudi Arabia during the 2015 Asian Cup qualifying campaign and a calamitous error in a AFC Cup tie in the West Bank saw him dropped by the Iraqi FA and released by Al-Shurta! The goalkeeper from the city of Ramadi will be one of ten players from the memorable Iraq youth side which reached the semi-finals of the FIFA World Youth Cup in Turkey three years ago. Mohammed Hamed was the Iraqi youth keeper and one of the star performers in Turkey, a custodian from the Albu Soudah area in the western province of Al-Anbar. He first started on the dusty grounds of the Thilth or third playground in his home town playing for the shaabiya team Al-Karama under the coach and school headmaster Mohammed Khalaf Salim before he made his name with Iraqi league club Al-Ramadi and then moving onto the city of Baghdad to play for Al-Kahraba in 2009 when he was supposedly only 16 years of age. His inclusion in the final 18-man squad by Abdul-Ghani Shahad has been received with both astonishment and surprise by the Iraqi sports press after long allegations of age fraud and for the reason that he has not played any club football since leaving Zakho more than seven months ago! Mohammed Hamed was one of 18 players signed by Zakho at the start of last season, with his contracted ratified by the Iraqi FA on August 24, 2015 however after just two months and 26 days later, he left the Duhok-based club by mutual consent after wanting to move to Al-Talaba in the winter transfer window. However because of contractual issues, the keeper was unable to sign for the Students and spent the rest of the season without a club! Shahad’s predecessor Yahya Alwan had vowed not to select any players with any suspicions of age fraud and dropped Mohanad Abdul-Rahim, Saif Salman and Mohammed Hamed! However when Shahad took charge in, repeating the Iraq FA’s statements noting that the players possessed AFC IDs which in their words proved the trio were not over-aged, the trainer recalled Mohanad and Saif and after qualifying for the Olympics finals in Rio, the Iraqi coach deemed Mohammed Hamed worthy of a place in the 18-man squad. There have been persistent rumours behind the scenes that the Iraqi coach had only selected players for the final Olympic squad based on agreeing to sign for Naft Al-Wasat where Shahad will manage next season, with Mohammed Hamed one of those players.

13 Sherko Karim (1996, 20) – One of Iraq’s coveted young footballers, Sherko Karim’s international career has been blocked by his own European aspirations, where he is now plying his trade with Swiss side Grasshopper Zürich. The boy from Kirkuk will be one to watch at the Olympics. Sherko Karim Latif Gubari was born on June 25, 1996 in the northern city of Kirkuk and made his first steps on the fields of local Al-Thawra Sports Club in his home city. He was discovered by Iraqi U-17 coach Muwafaq Hussein on one of his scouting trips scouring for new talent around the country, and after watching him, he quickly called him up to play for his side, and shortly after, moved to Baghdad to play for Al-Shurta. It was after the U-17s qualified for the 2012 AFC Under 17 Championship that Iraqi clubs began clamouring for his signature, with Arbil one of the favourites to sign the striker but instead he moved south to the Iraqi capital to start his career in the top division, and after an initial offer from Al-Karkh, he moved to Al-Shurta. On December 30, 2011 at only 15, he signed a three year contract with Iraqi Premier League club Al-Shurta then managed by coach Basim Qasim, and made his senior debut for the Police club a year later, before going onto help the Iraqi U-17 to qualify for the FIFA Under 17 World Cup for the first time. The delay in Sherko Karim making his full international bow centres around the striker’s clash with the FA and his U-19 coach while he was with the Iraq youth side in Myanmar when Sherko had been selected to play at the 2014 AFC Youth Championship. In the second half of the group game against Qatar when his coach Rahim Hamed turned to bring the young forward on, but was told by his two assistants that Sherko had left the bench and was sitting in the stands! The player insisted he had informed the two coaching assistants that he was not in the right state of mind to play and later claimed he was physically assaulted by the coach after the game for what was perceived as his obdurate stance. Sherko’s thoughts had been elsewhere as he had been waiting in the city of Arbil for a visa to fly to France for trials with several clubs when he was called up by the Iraq FA. Before the youth tournament the player had been told he would be suspended and his ITC clearance would not be released wrecking any move to Europe if he refused a call-up from the Iraq U-19s side. Sherko swiftly made himself available and arrived a day before they departed. At the end of 2014, Sherko finally received his visa and flew to Paris and had trials at French clubs Montpellier, Valenciennes, Marseille and AS Monaco, where it was reported that he was close to signing a deal, though an Iraqi journalist claimed Monaco pulled out of a three-year deal after finding out that the player was over the age of 17 after undertaking tests, alleging that he was born in 1991! Sherko eventually signed a two and a half-year contract with Swiss club Grasshopper Zürich and went straight into their youth side. This summer Sherko scored a goal in the final of the 79th edition of the Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup in Zurich in a 2-0 victory of English club West Ham and was awarded the Adidas Golden Ball as the competition’s best player. On the eve of the final Olympic qualifying round in Doha in January this year, Sherko left the team after his club refused to allow him to take part but this time around, Abdul-Ghani Shahad made sure he would have the striker in his squad in Rio after he travelled with Olympic representatives to Zürich to speak to Sherko’s club about allowing him to play at the Olympics. SK7 could be a revelation in Rio and one to look out for.

14 Saad Natiq (1990, age 26) – A battled hardened central defender who put his life on the line in the dying moments of Olympic qualifying play-off against Qatar, diving in front of a goal-bound effort to save Iraq in Doha. That selfless act willing to put his body on the line for the nation earned him the nickname Al-Fedaye or the commando for the fearless way he cleared the ball with his body. The Iraqi Olympic coach has been experimenting with three men at the back and it means Saad will be a vital part of the squad, after first appearing that he would be dropped from the starting line-up with the inclusion of overage centre back Ahmed Ibrahim. A Najaf native, Saad navigated his way through the Al-Najaf youth system and made his senior debut with his home club under Hatif Shamran in 2009 and was part of the club’s first team for two seasons. However it was in the Iraqi capital that Saad made his name, when he joined Doura-based oil refinery club Al-Masafi in the south of Baghdad where he played for three seasons – earning his selection to the Iraqi U-19s. It was under Hakim Shaker that Saad Natiq or Suad Natiq – the English spelling in his passport (Suad is a female name) became one of the nation’s recognised defenders after years in the wilderness. Saad Natiq was born in 1990 according to the identification card issued by the Ministry of Youth this year however his passport states March 19, 1994 – allowing him to play for the Iraqi Under 19s at the FIFA World U-20 Cup in Turkey. It was his spell at Al-Masafi under the command of trainers Hassan Ahmed and Nadhim Shaker that he developed as a player and was transformed into a strong tackling centre half after used in several positions at the club including at right back having first started out as a midfield anchor in his early days at Al-Najaf. In the summer of 2014, the defender was signed by his former Al-Masafi club coach Nadhim Shaker to play for Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya after his club were relegated to the first division. On signing the central defender the head coach of Al-Jawiya, Nadhim Shaker stated that the decision to sign him came as part of the club management’s desire to strengthen the team’s defence, and Saad went straight into the team. Last summer the defender looked to be on the move again, but decided to renew his contract with the Blue Falcons however despite winning the Iraqi Cup with a 2-0 win over Al-Zawraa it was a disappointing season with the Air Force Club and has had offers to play abroad, namely Iranian giants Perspolis in the Persian Gulf Pro League.

Details from Iraq’s Ministry of Youth for Visa cards released to sportsmen – Saad Natiq 19/3/1990

15 Dhargham Ismail (1991, age 25) – The hard-working and technically gifted left-sided player is the only member of the squad not to have taken part in the Olympic team’s preparations in the run-up to the Rio Games after his Turkish club Çaykur Rizespor refused to release him to link-up with the Iraqi team – citing that the Olympic Games was not on FIFA’s international match day calendar. It was touch and go whether Dhargham would represent Iraq at the Games, however after months of letter writing and joint Iraq FA and Olympic delegations traveling to Rize to negotiate the player’s release for the tournament, it was agreed the left back would be allowed to join from July 29 along with his new Iraqi club-mates Ali Faiz and Ali Husni. The left back joined the Iraq FA youth system more than six years after FA member Yahya Zaghir the secretary of Naft Maysan, where he was a youth player, took the promising footballer to Iraq U-17 coach Muwafaq Hussein and presented him as “a player from Al-Sadr City,” a city within a city in the Iraqi capital, no one knows why the Iraq FA official decided to hide the fact that the talented player was from the province of Maysan, maybe it was because he felt the player would have it easier. Dhargham was a footballer from the province and for decades the Iraqi youth sides had been dominated by Baghdad-based players, both because of the prejudice against the provincial talent and the close proximity from the youth sides training facilities in the Iraqi capital and with only a few coaches scouting around the country for new talent. Yahya Zaghir may have believed it was better for Dhargham to be labelled a player from Baghdad rather than face the prejudice of coming from the provinces. Two years later, the technically gifted left sided defender was the star of the Under 17s side, wearing the No.9 with presenter Haidar Al-Wattar waxing lyrical on MBC channel about the extraordinary talent. Dhargham Ismail was born on May 23, 1994 in the city of Amarah in Maysan province, in south-eastern Iraq. Though Dhargham was considered a wonder kid who had played for the U-17s, U-19s, U-23 and the national side in the space of a year, there were rumours that he was not born in 1994 but was actually three years older than what was stated in his passport and the player’s real date of birth was apparently April 25, 1991 There were two incidents that the player was involved in, that correspond with this fact. On September 13, 2012, he was one of the nine players from the youth team preparing to travel to Amman for a friendly tournament, who were detained at Baghdad International Airport by security officials after it had been discovered that the players were travelling on forged documents. The nine players were Ahmed Hussein, Mustafa Nadhim, Ali Adnan, Ammar Kadhim, Mohammed Ali, Jawad Kadhim, Karrar Salih, Ali Yasin and one Humam Tariq. The Iraq FA held a meeting with the youth coach Hakim Shaker a week later regarding the issue but six of the nine players took part in the Asian Youth Championship in the UAE two months later and the scandal was swept under the carpet. However he went onto play at the 2013 FIFA World Youth Cup in Turkey and the 2014 U-23 Asian Games in Busan. But on his return from the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia, where he was one of Iraq’s best performers, the Interior Ministry detained the player at Baghdad airport, and he was unable to participate in his club’s AFC Cup matches until a combination of parliamentary and ministerial interventions ensured an end to the crisis. Dhargham had been one of five Al-Shurta players that had their passport confiscated by the Ministry of Interior after they were about to expire however their application to renew their passports was rejected by the Ministry of Interior due to evidence of forgery. The five were Dhargham (born 1994 but whose actual DOB was 1991), Ali Bahjat (1992/1987), Mohammed Kasid (1986/1982), Mahdi Karim (1983/1977), Amjad Kelaf (1991/1988) and Hussein Abdul-Wahid (1985/1983) all had their passports confiscated after evidence of tampering with their DOBs in their passports differentiating from the details recorded on the national civil registry, with the age altering attributed to the players participating in age range tournaments and they could not play with their real ages because they had all registered with the AFC with their reconstructed date of births with the knowledge of the Iraqi FA. On March 12, 2015 the player was issued with a new passport from the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the Interior Ministry. The Passports and Nationality Directorate of the Interior Ministry had handed him his passport after a period of revisions made to issue the passport. According to the Baghdad-based sports paper Al-Mondial, a source within the Ministry of Interior had put an end to the crisis after a personal intervention from the Minister of Youth who demanded them issue a new passport the player for the interest of the national side, however the details noted in his new passport were the same forged information that were used so he could play in age range tournaments. The passport was issued on the condition the player reverted back to his real age and documents after the end of his participation in upcoming football tournaments, as had been done under the Iraq FA in pre-2003.

16 Saad Abdul-Amir (1988, age 28) – Iraq’s new captain is coming into the Rio Olympics in the best form of his career after a commanding first season at newly promoted Al-Qadisiya in the Saudi Abdul Latif Jamel league – with his club finishing a respectable 11th in the Saudi league. His accession to the Iraqi captaincy has come after years of hard-work, spending many of them as understudy to the big names in the Lions of Mesopotamia team, waiting calmly and patiently for his opportunity. The 28-year-old came into the international fold six years ago after impressing for the Iraqi School team! In the summer of 2010, weeks after he had won the Arab School Championship in Beirut with the Iraqi School team beating Egypt 2-1 in the final, Saad was included in Sidka’s first squad, and was one of only three players from the initial preliminary squad that was selected for the final 2010 WAFF Championship squad. The retirement of Qusai Munir and career threatening injury to Muthanna Khalid saw Saad become Iraq’s most experienced player in midfield in the run-up to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, four years after he had sat on the bench at the 2011 tournament in Doha watching Qusai and Nashat Akram organising the midfield. In Australia, Saad formed a strong midfield partnership with Swindon Town’s Yaser Kasim that was one of the reasons for Iraq reaching the semi-finals. Olympic coach Abdul-Ghani Shahad had lost the suspended Saif Salman – ceremonially dispatched after alleging his daughter was seriously ill and needed to return home, immediately after he was told by Shahad that he would be on the bench for the quarterfinal against the UAE during the qualifying tournament! Lacking strength and experience in midfield, Shahad had hoped to bring in the national team partnership of Saad and Yaser Kasim to the Olympic set-up to shore up the centre, however Yaser’s yet unexplained AWOL act means Saad will be in midfield with the youngster Amjad Atwan. Born in 1988, Saad Abdul-Amir Liabi Al-Zirjawi first played shaabiya football in the Shuala Al-Sadreen district in Baghdad, making his way through the youth teams at local club Al-Shuala and then Al-Kadhimiya before joining Al-Karkh in the first division (second tier) gaining promotion with Yellow and Black jerseys to the top flight in 2009. Saad Abdul-Amir is somewhat the quiet leader of the Iraqi team, a soft-spoken person who rarely gives interviews – which the Iraqi media claim is the main reason why the player is not amongst the Iraqi fans’ favourite players. The unsung hero, Saad is generally deployed as a holding midfielder but has the drive and the determination to bring the ball forward or make runs down the flanks. Though derided by Iraqi football fans for what they perceive as his lack of skill and ability, Saad’s experienced will be essential at the Olympics in Rio. A player who plays the game at his own tempo and has a calming influence on the team.

17 Alaa Mahawi (1994, age 22) – The overlapping full back is one of only three players in the squad of 18 yet to play senior international football but has already played at every single age level for Iraq, bar the national team. The former Kahraba player always has his late club-mate and close friend Mahdi Abdul-Zahra close to his thoughts and dedicated Iraq’s qualification to the Olympic Games in Brazil to his friend who was killed in a car bombing in Baghdad in 2015. In tears after the final whistle in the 2-1 play-off victory over Qatar in Doha, Alaa told reporters that he had wished his team-mate and friend was alive to join them in the moments of joy. After the qualifying tournament in Doha, Alaa and Amjad Atwan were called up by national coach Yahya Alwan but with questions over the player’s match fitness, Alaa was dropped on the eve of the team’s departure to Tehran for the final two World Cup qualifiers. Alaa Ali Mahawi is another graduate from the famous Ammo Baba Football School and from there he was selected for the Iraqi Ishbal (“Cubs”) and participated in the Asian Cup at that level, before progressing to the Under 17s – where he was one of five Kahraba players in the first Iraq Under 17s team – including his late friend Mahdi Abdul-Zahra – to play at a World Cup at U-17 level. At 16 years of age and already considered one of the best players in his country in his age group, he signed for Al-Kahraba in the second division after receiving several contract offers for the start of the 2013-2014 season, preferring to join the Electrics Club which at the time included a close group of players in the same age group. After representing Iraq at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in the UAE, his club were inundated with offers for the attacking full back with Arbil making a serious bid for his services, with the player explaining to his club’s management that he wanted to leave to Arbil however the move was quickly rebuffed by his club, insisting he honoured his three-year contract. After two seasons at Al-Kahraba and his club finishing one place off the bottom of their league group, Alaa left the club and was signed by former Al-Zawraa coach Emad Mohammed to play for the White Seagulls– on signing the player, the former Iraqi striker – who was later replaced by Basim Qasim – predicted a big future for the right back, and in his first season at Al-Nawaras, Alaa scored the winner at a packed Al-Shaab stadium in the Baghdad El Clásico against Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya side-footing the ball through the hands and feet of Olympic colleague Fahad Talib and went onto lift the league title.

18 – Amjad Atwan (1997, age 19) – A certain starter for the Olympic team in Brazil, the all-action midfielder is like a son to the Iraqi coach after managing the Kut-born footballer at Naft Al-Wasat. It was Abdul-Ghani Shahad who signed the player whilst coach of the Midland Oil Club spotting him at nearby Karbala and transformed the player into a holding midfielder having been a forward early on in his career and the pair have worked closely from that day on. He has been ever present with the Olympic side since Shahad took over last year and his career has gone from strength to strength after making the move to Naft Al-Wasat in 2014. The former Iraq U-17 international has the ability to play anywhere in midfield, whether in a holding role, on the right or left flanks or as an advanced midfielder. After guiding the U-23 team to finals of Rio Olympics with some imperious performances in Doha particularly in the quarter-finals against the UAE, scoring the winner, Amjad was handed his first senior call-up by Yahya Alwan and made his debut in 1-0 defeat to Syria in a friendly in Tehran this March and subsequently started in the World Cup qualifiers with Thailand and Vietnam. After an erratic season at Al-Shurta working under the management of four coaches Hakim Shaker, Qahtan Chathir, Radhi Shanaishel and caretaker Hashim Ridha, the midfielder has agreed a return to Naft Al-Wasat for the new season where he will link-up with his Olympic coach once more. Amjad Atwan Kadhim Al-Maksousi born in Al-Kut in the province of Al-Wasit, was a product of the Al-Kut youth system who he first joined in his early teens and in due course made the first team in 2012 before transferring to fellow province club Al-Nahrain in the lower divisions after representing Iraq at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in a team which featured Amjad, Sherko Karim and team captain Bashar Resan as the three main attacking players. In 2014 he signed for Karbala and played his first matches in the top flight in the Iraqi league and was spotted by Abdul-Ghani Shahad and signed him for newly promoted Naft Al-Wasat. In the space of six months, Amjad become one of the Iraqi league’s most coveted players and won an Iraqi League winners’ medal in his first full season at the highest level. The midfielder – now a full international – has had offers from clubs in Turkey, Portugal and Oman after an unsatisfactory spell at Al-Shurta, however has decided to return for another season at Naft Al-Wasat – under the management of Abdul-Ghani Shahad. Undoubtedly Amjad has the natural ability to become one of the most talented footballers of his generation, however he has learn to be more disciplined and control his temperament at times but his talent on the pitch shines through.

Reserves/Alternatives

Bashar Resan (1993, age 22) – The second of Al-Jawiya’s gifted wide attacking midfielders. Like Humam Tariq, the fresh-faced Bashar was promoted to the first team at a relatively young age and captained the Iraq U-17s at their first ever appearance in a World Cup in the UAE three years ago. His father Resan Benyan was footballer in the 60s and 70s and appeared for Iraq at the 1973 Palestine Cup in Libya and named his son after his close friend and former Iraqi national team player Bashar Rasheed, who was executed by the Baathist regime in 1978 at the age of just 29. The young Basra started playing on Palestine Street in the Iraqi capital for shaabiya team 14 Tamouz (July) and had the privilege of being a student at the Ammo Baba Football School from the age of 12 and spent two years at the school before joining Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya at 13. He first played for the club’s ishbal and then the nasheen and in the space of just nine months he found himself in the first team. In the 2010-2011 season Bashar was plucked from the Jawiya junior side where at 14 he was playing football with boys much older than himself to train with the first team after he was seen in a game by team coach Thair Ahmed and his assistant Walid Dhahid and he has been a first team member ever since. He has represented Iraq at every level from U-14 to the seniors which he made at the age of 17, amid allegations of age fraud which he has fervently denied and fired back at people criticising him and other Iraqi youth players, biting back by asserting that they were “not Iraqis”, harming Iraq and its football, while questioning the ages of young players, without providing evidence unlawfully defamed the reputation of Iraq. He captained Iraq at the FIFA Under 17s World Cup in the UAE at 16 and was called-up to the national team for the first time in October 2013, only a month before turning 17. He went onto will make his full international debut for Iraq at the age of just 17 years, 8 months and 13 days after first coming to prominence in the Iraqi league in 2010 at the age of 14. However in truth, Bashar was born in 1993 and is the same age as Mahdi Kamil and Humam Tariq. After qualifying for the Olympics, the player gave his AFC U-23 winners’ medal to a mother whose son was one of 1,700 Iraqi soldiers martyred in the Speicher massacre in 2014. The flank midfielder despite signing with the same football agency as Sherko Karim and Nashat Akram’s former FIFA licensed football agent Behrooz Dezhbod and with a desire to play abroad, turning down an offer to play in South Korea for Pohang Steelers only last year, Bashar decided to renew his contract with his beloved Al-Jawiya for another season.

Ammar Abdul-Hussein (1986, 29) – Ammar Abdul-Hussein was one of the Iraqi league’s outstanding performers last season with the Basra Port Club, Al-Minaa. At club level, his now departed Syrian coach Hossam Al-Sayed used him as a striker with his ability to beat an opponent in one-on-one situations and his deadly pace put to good work. However Ammar is a versatile footballer and can operate as a winger or behind the main striker which was why Abdul-Ghani Shahad had a look at the player. The forward is in the form of his life, but the ex-Iraq youth international is no spring chicken and has been playing club football in the Iraqi league for over a decade. Ammar or to give him his full name Ammar Abdul-Hussein Abdul-Karim Al-Asadi was born in the city of Basra on October 6, 1986 and is actually 29 years of age according to one Iraqi journalist who released a copy of his national identity card! Over the years in attempts to make it as a footballer and in the Iraqi youth teams, Ammar has altered his date of birth on two occasions, first changing it to 1989 and then in the effort to get himself into Hakim Shaker’s Under 19s team made himself 6 years, 2 months and 26 days younger and represented the youth team at the 2012 AFC Asian Youth Championship in the UAE and the 2013 FIFA Youth Cup – meaning he was 26 when he appeared in FIFA world youth competition! The pacy forward has played for six clubs in his career, including Arbil and Al-Shurta and is in his second spell at Al-Minaa. His international career has been a let-down making only four appearances under the tenure of Hakim Shaker, which included only one start against Syria at the 2012 WAFF Championship in Kuwait while his only highlight with the national side was when he was ushered off the team bus with club-mate Halgurd Mulla Mohammed by Brazilian coach Zico – who protested that he had not selected the two players from Arbil – a call-up undoubtedly made by FA vice president at the time and now president, Abdul-Khaliq Masoud Al-Mullah. The player will play for Iraqi league champions Al-Zawraa this season.

Ammar Abdul-Hussein’s ID card with his DOB noted as 1986!

Mohammed Maan (1992, age 24) – The central defender is one of the starlets from Hassan Ahmed’s fledgling Al-Naft team that lit up the Iraqi league last season. Another graduate at the Ammo Baba Football School in the Iraqi capital, the centre back has represented Iraq at various levels at U-14, U-17 and U-19 and has played for Al-Sinaa and Sulimaniya in the Iraqi league. He transferred from cash-strapped Sulimaniya to Baghdad in the 2014 winter transfer window in order to break into the national team. The confident centre back has great potential and was able to impose himself as one of the outstanding young players in the Iraqi league, with a good level shown at Al-Sinaa under Qahtan Chathir and at Sulimaniya where he was one of the main pillars of the team. Mohammed was one of the 50 players selected by former Olympic coach Yahya Alwan on the eve of the Olympic qualifiers in Muscat but failed to make the final squad. Despite allegations of age fraud and on the back of his performances in the Iraqi league, he was called up by Abdul-Ghani Shahad for the final qualifying stage in Doha, where he played mainly as a reserve making only one appearance in the group stage in the 1-1 draw with South Korea and in the last minutes of the play-off victory over Qatar. In the team’s preparations for the Rio Olympics, the defender played in every single warm-up game against FC Santa Coloma, SV Horn, Zenit St Petersburg, Kalmar FF and the two matches against Algeria U23 in Blida and South Korea U23 in São Paulo however was used only as a substitute in each of those games playing just over 90 minutes in seven matches!

Karrar Ibrahim (1993, age 23) – Al-Minaa’s first choice keeper who would have gone to Brazil as the Olympic team’s reserve keeper had Abdul-Ghani Shahad not decided to recall the experienced Mohammed Hamed. Karrar was born in the southern Iraqi city of Basra and comes from the Al-Abelah district in the centre of the city and played for local shaabiya teams Zamalek and Al-Sadaqa before he joined Al-Minaa as a teenager. Karrar is a product of the Al-Minaa youth system first playing for the famous club’s ishbal team as a defender! It was only when he returned to football after eight months out after suffering a broken leg during his time playing for the nasheen side that his coach Mohammed Hussein Galim moved him from defence to stand between the posts, it was the making of him. At youth level, Karrar was considered one of the best young players in his age group and represented the provincial school select team the Basra Tarbiya side alongside Hamza Adnan and Ali Husni winning the provincial championship in 2008 over Baghdad’s Al-Rasafa on penalties and that same year he was selected to play for the Iraq school team at the Arab Championship in Jordan, where the team finished fourth. Two years later, Karrar was part of the Iraqi school team which won the same competition in Lebanon. His dream growing up in Basra had been to play for the blue of Al-Safana where his uncle Ismail Hashim had played during the 1990s which he achieved when Karrar made his debut in the 2009-2010 season against Maysan and has gone onto captain his boyhood club. He was handed his only start by Shahad in the Olympic qualifying campaign against South Korea after Iraq had already qualified for the quarter-finals. After qualifying for the Olympics, Karrar and three of his club mates Ali Qasim, Hamza Adnan and Ali Husni were suspended until the end of the 2014-2015 season by their club for their absence from training without a legitimate reason after returning late from the Olympic qualifying tournament. The ban was later overturned however the club’s governing body decided to deduct 10% of their contracts before they allowed to return to the first team. The club captain of Al-Minaa where he has been part of the senior team for the past four seasons recently renewed his contract with the Basra Port Club for another season, working under new Romanian coach Marin Ion, formerly of Zakho.

Ayman Hussein: Iraq’s Olympic Superhero

Hassanin Mubarak — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 09:30:39 +0000

It’s a scene that has been replayed over and over again on Iraqi TV screens since it happened in real time, the 109th minute header from match winner Ayman Hussein – which saw Iraq qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro for the fifth time in their history.

The striker from Hawija in Kirkuk province had started the AFC U-23 tournament in Qatar as the main centre forward in Abdul-Ghani Shahad’s team, however after a timid performance in the opening game against Yemen, Al-Zawraa’s vastly more experienced Mohanad Abdul-Rahim was picked ahead of him. Ayman waited patiently on the bench for the coach’s call to make his mark and that duly came in the 3rd/4th place play-off match, with the winning nation clinching the final ticket to qualify for the Olympics in Rio this summer, an opportunity Ayman had previously described as “a dream” for him and his team-mates before the squad had jetted off to Doha.

With the home side Qatar leading 1-0, and with nothing to lose, his coach brought on Ayman as the last throw of the dice. Then the moment came, four minutes in the second half of extra-time. The Qatari defence attempted to clear an Iraqi corner, but the weak clearance from Assim Madibo only found Amjad Atwan on the edge of the box and his deftly lofted ball into the penalty area was guided into the bottom left hand corner of net with a perfectly finished cushioned header from Ayman beating the diving keeper with the ball bouncing in front of him and into the net. Some Iraqi supporters have even compared the winning goal against Qatar, which saw Iraq reach the Olympics to another historic header scored by Younis Mahmoud which won Iraq the 2007 Asian Cup in Jakarta.

The 6 foot 3 inch striker along with his 21 team-mates and the rest of the Olympic staff were rewarded for their heroics by the Council of Ministers with a plot of land while the Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abbadi handed them each a Swiss-made Hanowa Arrow Chronograph watch at a ceremony this week in Baghdad, later alleged to have been cheap watches made in China and costing no more than $50 US dollars!

Touching down at Baghdad International Airport, the player dedicated the victory and Olympic qualification to the Iraqi people, the martyrs and the internal displaced persons in Iraq, Ayman like no other Iraqi understands and lives the daily suffering of his people. Iraqi sports presenter Taha Abu-Raghef stated that he was shocked to learn that the goalscorer’s father, an Iraqi Army officer was one of the martyrs killed by Al-Qaeda and that his elder brother Atheer had been abducted by Daesh (ISIS) and is still unaccounted for and presumed dead. Ayman’s family were displaced from their home in Hawija with his own mother in poor health and living in a rented accommodation in Kirkuk. It is staggering that despite all of these heartbreaking events and the pain borne out of the personal tragedies of this young man, how he was able to bear the scars and play on without any sign of grief etched on his face to help score Iraq’s historic goal and qualify for the Olympics.

Internally displaced

Ayman is a remarkable footballer, a young man who at 19 years has lost a number of close relatives and friends to the seemingly never-ending cycle of violence and terrorism which had ravaged post-war Iraq. Today Ayman, the main breadwinner for the what is left of the family, lives alone in Baghdad while the remainder of his family, his mother and brothers Asser and Laith are internally displaced in Kirkuk. Earning a living by playing for Al-Naft in the Iraqi capital, Ayman has not seen his family for three months, as his mother and two younger brothers live in a rented house in Kirkuk. The player had hoped to buy a house for them however he was unable to transfer the ownership of the place he wanted to buy in his name as he did not possess a residency card. He says that his only concern is to do everything in his power in order to see his family live comfortably.

The backdrop of the serene surroundings of the air-conditioned Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium is a far cry from where this match winner grew up. Iraq’s lanky forward Ayman Hussein comes from the town of Hawaija, one of the most volatile regions in the world, which even for Iraq, is considered a dangerous place to live. His family is one of four million internally displaced people within the borders of Iraq, their sole mean of survival now is the up and coming young striker’s substantial wage of 125m Iraqi dinars (approx. $113,000 US Dollars) – equivalent to $1,065 US dollars a week. The two-year contract with Baghdad’s Al-Naft (Oil) Sports Club signed last summer is paid to the player in instalments, a similar arrangement to other footballers in the Fuchs Iraqi league.

Ayman Hussein Ghadban Al-Mafraji was born on March 22, 1996 in the rural village of Al-Safra in the Al-Riyadh sub-district in south-western part of Kirkuk. The village is situated in the turbulent district of Hawija, now controlled by ISIS and has been the scene of coalition airstrikes since last summer. Insurgents have frequently targeted oil pipelines in the village since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, with daily car bombs and improvised explosive device (IED) blasts a normal part of life for the young Ayman growing up in Al-Safra. The violence took the life of Ayman’s father Iraqi Army Officer Hussein Ghadban after the fall of the Baathist regime and with large parts of the region overrun by ISIS forces, including Al-Safra – the footballer’s family fled their home and became one of the four million internally displaced Iraqis.

First Club

Ayman was spotted as a gifted teenager with his local shaabiya team and it was because of a local resident who was also a board member at the Al-Alim (Knowledge) Sports Club who recommended the player to his club. Ayman was able to carve out a career in the game which led him on a journey that has seen him travel the world with the Iraqi U-19, Olympic and senior national teams.

“It’s the right of any human to be proud of something that they had a share in its emergence,” Amer Al-Majhoul, the player’s first coach from the province of Kirkuk states proudly, as he fondly remembers the tall striker he nicknamed “Aymouni”.

“Ayman Hussein is hard-working and determinedly brave,” he says of his former protégé. He recalls how Ayman joined the youth team at Al-Alim, where he was coaching. “His first steps were in the youth team at Al-Alim Club, which I supervised. Ayman’s father was martyred at the hands of Al-Qaeda and Mohammed Chaka, a board member at the club and the person who presented him to the Al-Alim Club, was killed by Daesh,” using the Arab acronym for the terrorist group ISIS.

Al-Majhoul described how the player came to his attention after the club was alerted to his talents by club board member Mohammed Chaka, who was later tragically executed by ISIS. The late Mr.Chaka had informed the club that there was a talented shaabiya footballer in the same area he was living in, in the village of Al-Safra, located in the area of Riyadh and asked if it was possible for the head coach to give him a try and see if he was good enough to sign for the club. The striker arrived for a trial however the coach apologized to him, seeing that he wasn’t at the same level of fitness as the rest of the team to take part in the game, and told the young striker he wouldn’t play him.

The youth coach at the club was Amer Al-Majhoul and he had noticed Ayman at the trial and with his age and “good height,” he thought Ayman could be a useful addition to his youth team in their local championship. He immediately phoned the late Mohammed Chaka and expressed to him “Do not let Ayman go, I want him with the youth team.” The three later sat and had dinner at the late board member’s home and the coach persuaded Ayman to remain at the club, with Chaka telling the player that all the young man’s expenses were on him and prophetically remarked, “Amer will benefit you,” and with that, he signed for Al-Alim.

He joined the team as a midfielder. However, Amer transformed him into a centre forward with his height being a driving factor behind his decision. Ayman trained with his new team-mates and not long after, the local championship started. The striker produced some outstanding performances but after each victory for his team, the opposition would object to the lofty striker’s inclusion with opposing coaches berating Ayman’s coach “Where in the world is there such a tall player at this age group,” they shouted. To offset the barrage of protests the coach even asked the player to go to the Al-Riyadh sub-district and his school to verify his national identification card and his age. However despite this, they continued to win and the protests never stopped. “Not to prolong it for you,” the coach notes, “By the time we reached the final, they had taken out our spirits from the volume of protests from rival coaches over his height.”

The final was against Samarra played in Salah-Al-Deen province, an hour away from Al Alam, however Ayman arrived late, only later did his coach find out the reason for his lateness, as he was apparently at a celebration at the University of Tikrit and according to the coach was dancing with half the female students there! Initially the coach had second thoughts over starting him however knowing he could make a difference, he played him and a golden goal-scoring opportunity did come to Ayman in the game but he unfortunately missed it, subsequently his team failed to score and they lost the final. He was chosen as the best player at the tournament and became the focus of attention of other clubs in the province, and eventually signed for Al-Douz. But it was at the modest Al-Alim Club that his football career initially began.

Top Flight

After stints in the youth teams of Al-Alim and Al-Douz, and with no club from Kirkuk in the top divisions in the Iraqi league, Ayman took the unorthodox route in his attempts into getting into a top flight of the Iraqi league by signing for Gas Al-Shamal (North Gas) a club which was then in the second tier of the Kurdistan League, a division formed of primarily reserve players from the top Kurdish clubs.

He joined Gas Al-Shamal after a successful trial under the observant eyes of ex-Iraqi international Osama Nouri who encouraged him early on in his path in the game. Ayman played a key role in guiding them into the top division under coaches Abdullah Mahmoud and Walid Ahmed, scoring the decisive winning goal in the league decider against Al-Shorja which helped the team clinch promotion.

At the end of the season 2012-13, Ayman was offered the opportunity to play in the Iraqi Premier League for the first time when he was contacted by the assistant coach of Duhok, Khalid Mohammed Sabbar and was offered a lucrative contract to play for the club which Ayman said he agreed to immediately amid “great joy” working under the former Iraq captain and the two renowned coaches Syrian Fajr Ibrahim and Thair Ahmed during his spell with Duhok.

He appeared only a few times for the Mountain Hawks scoring two goals in the first stage of the season, however with salaries going unpaid for months at the cash-strapped club feeling the full ramifications of the financial crisis which had hit the Kurdistan region hard, Ayman made the decision to try his luck in Baghdad. He had been one of six players at Duhok including defender Ali Latif who were released due to their financial troubles during the latter part of the year.

Signing for Al-Naft

In late 2014, the then Al-Zawraa coach Emad Mohammed expressed interest in signing Ayman, with Baghdad rivals Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya also making a contract offer however after negotiations with Al-Naft and a reassuring talk with their club president Kadhim Mohammed Sultan, the striker decided on a move to Al-Naft, donning the No.8 jersey. With a new contract and the opportunity to appear regularly for an Iraqi Premier League side, he signed on the dotted line, turning down top clubs Al-Zawraa and Al-Jawiya to join the unfashionable Al-Naft.

He moved during the 2014 winter transfer window and impressed in the remaining matches of the season, getting on the score-sheet five times to help the Oil Club avoid relegation.

Last summer, Ayman was a player in high demand and received several attractive contract offers to try and tempt him to leave Al-Naft, particularly from Al-Minaa and Al-Shurta however the club president Kadhim Mohammed Sultan refused to release him. The player noted he was pleased that the club wanted to retain his services and felt lucky to stay on because the club had given him the opportunity to play for the national teams, both the Olympic side and the senior team.

This season he has showed himself to be one of the top forwards in the Premier League continuing on from where he left off last season and has succeeded in proving his presence as one of Iraq’s best young potentials in the local league.

Two months before his big move to the Iraqi capital, Ayman had been selected for the Under 19s at the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship in Myanmar where he was used by the Under 19s coach Rahim Hamed as a substitute in each of the three group matches, scoring one goal in the team’s only only victory at the tournament, a 6-0 win over Oman. However Iraq failed to get into the knock-out stages.

Younis Mahmoud’s Successor

A week after Yahya Alwan was named head coach of Iraq in early August 2015, he called up Ayman for a training session with the seniors for the first time at the Al-Shaab stadium. The striker had played under the ex-Olympic coach during the AFC U-23 Olympic qualifying stages in Muscat five months earlier, where he scored two goals in four games which saw Iraq reach the finals in Doha – evidently ending in Ayman scoring the crucial goal which qualified Iraq for the Olympics in Rio.

On the eve of a friendly game in Saida against Lebanon, 2007 Asian Cup winner and team captain Younis Mahmoud, a player who dozens of Iraqi forwards have tried in vain in the past ten years to displace in the Lions’ starting line-up, waxed lyrical about his fellow Kirkuki stating resolutely to the Iraqi Football Picture Gallery (Iraqfpg) website “This player will take my place in the national team”.

Speaking on the vacuum the Iraqi No.10 would leave in the team after his retirement, he replied “There’s a player that I feel will be my successor on the pitch, where I find myself in this player in terms of specifications, in movement and shooting at goal, it’s the player Ayman Hussein. I talked with the training staff and expressed my opinion on this player, where he only needs to play some official matches and avoid excessive nervousness, where I observe that he’s not nervous when he collects the ball.”

The player seemed happy with his first call-up for Iraq and posted a photo of himself on his own instagram account aymanhussen9 standing alongside Younis Mahmoud during a training session with the comment that it had been his dream to get his chance to play for Iraq and to train with Younis Mahmoud, in a message to over 4,000 of his followers he wrote, “With Al-Safah Younis Mahmoud, finally seen him and trained with him, and this is the first dream of reaching the national team and the beginning of the road, inshallah.”

Yahya Alwan sent the striker on in stoppage time to make his full international debut in the 3-2 win over Lebanon at the Saida International Stadium replacing his idol Younis Mahmoud for the final three minutes . While he’s made his name with the Olympic team, the next step is challenging Al-Safah for the main striker’s position in the national team, and out of every other striker who has battled Younis Mahmoud for that role, no one will bet against the young Ayman, who has already defied the odds, from displacing the legendary Iraqi captain in the future.

I leave the final word to his former coach Amer Al-Majhoul, who said of the striker after his winner in Doha last month, “My joy was mixed because there is suffering in the painful life of Ayman but he was able to resist it and delight us and that proves that he is a player who wants to have a big impact since he first started playing football… Ayman responds to murderers by scoring goals for our Olympic team.”

BEST GOALS: AFC U-23 CHAMPIONSHIP

Hamoudi — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 12:42:35 +0000

REPORT: QATAR 2-1 IRAN | AFC U-23 CHAMPIONSHIP

Jilbin George — Sat, 16 Jan 2016 07:23:47 +0000

After silencing the Chinese dragon in the first game, Al Annabi took on the mighty Iran, who are the current WAFF-U23 champions. The scales were tied in this high octane match following the earlier matches for the both sides.

The class of game was billed up to an international level.

Ahmad Alaa started off with the team today in the match, scoring in the 34th minute past the offside trap setup goal, which again was breached, slipping the ball through the legs of the Iranian custodian in goal – Mohammad Reza Akhbari. Ali continues with his impressive run from the previous match against China where he was introduced during the 2nd half & scored a goal too. Ali Hasan tried to score one during the dying minutes of the 2nd half however the Iranian goalkeeper safely palmed it away.

Ahmad Alaa celebrates the opener. (Photo: theafcdotcom)

In the 2nd half Iran tried to regain the match back again within 5 minutes of kickoff, with a shot on the Qatari custodian Muhanned Naim, who safely palmed it away at a very tight angle. Muhanned was instrumental during the game, saving an Iranian penalty which was awarded when Ahmad Yasser brought down Iranian forward Arsalan Motahhari.

Later on, none other than Abdelkarim Hassan scored his 3rd goal of the tournament from a corner just like in the previous game against China. His run has been quite impressive too. The Iranians pulled one back just before the end of the game in the dying minutes, however it was too late for the Iran National Team. Qatar go into matchday 3 with a 100% record, where not many people expected them to be at this point.

Coach Felix will be happy that the tough games are over with a comfortable 6 points and a guaranteed position in the quarters. It looks to be seen which will be the 2nd team to qualify from this group along with Qatar.

The next game is with Syria on the 18th. The biggest match-up there will definitely be on the left flank where Abdelkarim Hassan faces Syria’s creative winger Mahmoud Al-Mawas, one of the better players in the tournament. In this game he successfully neutralised Kanani, but Al-Mawas is not easy competition.

Highlights:

AFC U-23 CHAMPIONSHIP: PLAYERS TO WATCH | PART 2

Ahdaaf ME — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 08:06:13 +0000

To read Part 1 of the series: https://ahdaaf.me/?p=7630

IRAQ

Ali Husni Faisal

DoB: 23/05/1994

Position: RW| Club: Al-Minaa

At only 20, Ali Husni had already captained his home town club, the grand Nadi Al-Minaa Al-Basri and for the past couple of the seasons he has been considered to be the best player in the Iraqi league. A cross between Habib Jafar and Laith Hussein, the vastly talented midfielder has returned from exile after the spell under Hakim Shaker ended after the Gulf Cup. In the summers of 2013, the player made some disparaging remarks about how Hakim had selected some of the youth team players for the World Youth Cup, inadvertently implying that the coach had asked for money from some players to get a place on the team.

Ali was not the only player who made such comments, the other player Amjad Walid was also sent to Iraqi football equivalent of the Siberian gulag and has not been seen since. But the strong support from Iraqi football fans forced the hand of the FA and the Army Major and national coach Hakim Shaker, to recall Ali Husni and he played him for the final seven minutes in a friendly against North Korea and then subsequently dropped him for the following Asian Cup qualifier. This would be a familiar pattern for Basra Port Club’s No.8 as he was dropped on the eve of both the Asian Games and the Gulf Cup. Radhi Shanaishel has ended his prison sentence under the old warden Hakim Shaker. But with Radhi Shanaishel at the helm of the national side, the shackles disappeared and the Karbala-born midfielder was free to make the progression from club to international football. He was a regular in Yahya Alwan’s Olympic side and will be key to Iraq’s challenge to qualify for the Olympics in Brazil, a lively attacking winger, this could be the stage that he finally makes his name. -HM

Ayman Hussein

DoB: 22/03/1996

Position: ST | Club: Al-Naft

Aymen Hussein, the Kirkuk-born 6 footer, the striker dubbed “Younis Mahmoud’s successor” by the veteran Iraqi captain himself, maybe the surprise at the AFC U-23 Championship. The boy from Hawaija has the attributes to cause problems for any defence, good in the air and lethal from 12 yards, and has come a long way from the lowly depths with Gas Al-Shamal in the Kurdistan league, a division featuring mainly reserve teams from the region, before he was spotted by scouts from Duhok, where he spent a season and a half until financial difficulties at the northern Iraqi club saw him released. His next stop was Baghdad and Aymen is already making his name at Al-Naft – earning him a call-up to the national team from his former Olympic coach Yahya Alwan. He only made a brief three minute appearance against Lebanon last year but with Sherko Karim yet to find his feet under new Olympic coach Abdul-Ghani Shahad and Mohanad Abdul-Rahim returning back from injury, Aymen could be Iraq’s main goal scoring threat. -HM

YEMEN

Abdulwasea Al-Matari

DoB: 04/07/1994

Position: RW – LW – ST | Club: Al-Orouba (OMA)

Abdulwasea Al-Matari is arguably Yemen’s most vibrant and dangerous player, and after making the move to Omantel Professional League Champions Al-Orouba, he’s been able to grow as a player in a growing league and one that is significantly harder than the Yemeni League, which has been disbanded until further notice.

What Al-Matari excels at is using his pace to move in and out of positions, drag defenders out of the channels and operate on either wing, hence his position being “RW – LW – ST”. In fact, in only Yemen’s 4^th goal of 2015, Abdulwasea Al-Matari did exactly what he does best. He moved out to the left wing, receiving the ball before playing a cut back pass to Abdulhakim Al-Sarori, who beat his man and scored the winner in Yemen’s 2^nd win of 2015.

However in the process of Al-Matari moving out wide, his teammates occupy the centre, which is usually detrimental to Yemen’s chances. The scorer in the Philippines match, Abdulhakim Al-Sarori, actually missed a few sitters before that goal he inevitably scored. That will be the ultimate question, who will score the goals for Yemen? -HF

Ahmad Alos

DoB: 03/04/1994

Position: CM – RM | Club: Al-Wahda (YEM)

Ahmad Alos is going to lead from central midfield, with his runs from deep the epitome of what this Yemeni team is all about. They’ve literally got nothing to lose – well, except making the move to neighbouring Gulf leagues as one Abdulla Al-Kaabi is doing now, to Al-Sadd – in terms of results for the nation, and what other way to prove so than by having your riskiest player start?

Alos is very risky in terms of dribbling and passing, where ultimately it’s something that needs to be adjusted if he ever moves to a bigger club. Always one of their most talented and productive players, yes, but always prone to losing the ball in the middle of the pitch in Yemen’s 4-4-2 formation. Therefore you see where Yemen’s central problems come from often, in the sense that they lose a central midfielder who pushes higher up the pitch.

Yet, despite his risky character, he’s dynamic and effective which is something that Yemen need. They’ll be hoping that Waleed Al-Hubaishi has a good tournament, for the sake of the team. -HF

U.A.E

Ahmed Barman

DoB: 05/02/1994

Position: DM | Club: Al-Ain

The no-nonsense midfielder has risen through the ranks to become an important player for Al-Ain, where he played over 1000 minutes in the year of 2015 in the first team alone. He’s used to trophies, already winning 6 by the age of 21 which is no mean feat. His debut came along in the 2013/14 season, but he’s now looking at solidifying his first team spot.

After Zlatko Dalic moved to a 4-3-3 formation with Al-Ain, a defensive midfielder was needed and youth product Ahmed Barman was the perfect choice for a mid-season change. That change was a tactical masterstroke, as Dalic’s men thrashed Al-Ahli Dubai 3-0 in a the league’s top of the table clash.

He’s already clocked up more than 500 minutes, with most of them coming in recent months. One thing about Barman is he’s a hard man to get past, alongside his relatively good level of experience, he’s certainly the top man to watch for the UAE. -HF

Mohammed Al-Akberi

DoB: 15/03/1996

Position: RW | Club: Al-Wahda

We believe that Mohammad Al-Akberi has a great future, for club and country, and there is not a shadow of a doubt that he can be the UAE’s leading footballer post-2019. If there’s anyone in the team that can battle the notion of the UAE losing their Golden Generation it’s Al-Akberi.

He’s a first team regular for Al-Wahda, playing in every single league game this season. He’s excelled against Al-Ain and Al-Ahli but often needs to polish his work and become more consistent, yet at the age of 19 that isn’t something unprecedented. His ability to run down the line and drag his marker wide, drift inside to occupy the centre backs or sit back and play in a driven ball are all traits that the modern day winger needs and he – essentially – possesses them all. Now, it’s time for him to take the spotlight and the AFC U-23 is just the place to do it. With the UAE youth teams calling out for a good striker in the past few years, it’s up to the attacking midfielders to take the load. -HF

Abdulla Al-Naqbi

DoB: 28/04/1993

Position: DM | Club: Al-Dhafra

Abdulla Al-Naqbi, more like the Gattuso of Al-Dhafra, or that’s what the small but passionate fan base of Al-Dhafra call him. Tenacious, strong and able to use the ball a la the modern day defensive midfielder, he is the only local hope left in Al-Dhafra’s dire team that is fighting for relegation in the Arabian Gulf League. If he can strike up a partnership with Barman in defensive midfield for the UAE then it’s hard seeing many get past the duo.

He’s a fighter above all, able to go toe to toe with any player in the league, not off the pitch by fighting but in terms of winning the ball. A league that consists of Valdivia, Fabio Lima, Everton Ribeiro and many more high-level players. With the current breed of U.A.E defensive midfielders including Khamis Esmail, Majed Hassan, Hassan Ibrahim and Amer Abdulrahman already fighting for senior spots it may take time for the likes of Al-Naqbi to exert any influence on the national team. But whatever the case, Al-Naqbi is set to have a good future and where else to make your name than the AFC U-23? -HF

JORDAN

Ihsan Haddad

DoB: 05/02/1994

Position: RB – RM – CM – CAM | Club: Hussein Irbid

Ihsan Haddad is Jordan U-23’s best player. His presence in the national team is one that has been called for by fans across Jordanian football, despite being called up on recent occasions. The fans demand him to play as a starter, and with his versatility, he can take the Jordan U-23s far.

For Jordan, much will depend on the whole team if they are to overtake the likes of the U.A.E and Australia to reach the semi-finals of the AFC U-23. However for Haddad, he will excel with or without a teammate. This doesn’t mean that he is a selfish player, far from it, but he has the talent and quality to perform admirably at this tournament.

His ability to play centrally, down the right or even possibly on the left hand side is invaluable to this Jordanian team. He can fill in for any of those spots and as he tries to use both feet he can provide more than one dimension for the team to play in. The question is, where will he be deployed? After scoring 3 goals for Jordan in as many pre-tournament friendlies, it seems that he may be played on the wings where he is able to cut inside and view the game from the half spaces.

Baha Faisal

DoB: 30/05/1995

Position: ST | Club: Wehdat

An enigmatic poacher is the best way to describe the promising Jordanian striker who goes by the name of Baha Faisal. Baha Faisal played a big role in helping Jordan qualify to the AFC U-23, scoring 4 goals himself, and bagging 3 against Kuwait in a 3-all draw. His performance against Kuwait was the epitome of what he can do to punish the opposition:

It’s come to a point where it isn’t even a joke, but Baha Faisal thrives on rebounds and getting on the end of crosses. The AFC U-23 is going to make or break his rise, is he simply a one-dimensional player or can he prove that there is more to the player? Whatever the outcome, he gets goals. -HF

Rajai Ayed

DoB: 25/07/1993

Position: DM | Club: Wehdat

Rajai Ayed has been a long-time regular for Wehdat and has recently embedded himself into the senior national team set-up, remarkably. Very calm on the ball and one of the better deep lying playmakers in the region, it will be interesting to see who he will pair up with, if anyone, and how he will fare defensively.

He’s already made more than 12 appearances for the national team, making him one of the more experienced youngsters in the region which is no mean feat for a player in the Jordanian line-up. He’s also been apart of the successful team over the last few years, alongside his trophy wins with Wehdat, coming in the form of the Jordanian Pro League. -HF

AFC U-23 CHAMPIONSHIP: PLAYERS TO WATCH | PART 1

Ahdaaf ME — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 20:46:11 +0000

The AFC U-23 Championship is one where players can make their mark on before going to the big one: senior national team football. However, many of the players this year are already seniors for their respective national team, which may show the lack of components to form an experienced squad (Syria, Yemen) or just downright talent.

We give you an expert Middle Eastern look at the best players to watch, and why.

QATAR

Abdelkarim Hassan

DoB: 28/08/1993

Position: LB – LW | Club: Al-Sadd

Having being a key part of Al-Sadd and Qatar national team setup for the best part of four years, it is sometimes easy to forget Abdelkarim Hassan is just 22 years old. The athletic left back will captain The Maroons at home and will want to lift his first piece of silverware for the nation. One of the early graduates of the famed Aspire Academy, Hassan opted to continue his progress at home with Qatar’s most successful side, Al-Sadd, unlike many of his colleagues who now ply their trade for Qatar owned Eupen in the Belgian second division. This decision has so far proved the right one with the defender lifting the 2011 AFC Champions League. He then established himself as a regular international and now has more than 40 senior caps to his name. Solid in the tackle, the Qatar U-23 captain possesses great pace and athleticism which helps his frequent marauding runs down the left flank. A self-confessed disciple of the Roberto Carlos school, Hassan never shied away from trying his luck from distance and as the eyes focus on the more attacking players in Doha, Abdelkarim’s experience and ability will prove a vital weapon for the hosts in their pursuit of a spot in Rio2016. -WJ

Ali Asad

DoB: 19/01/1993

Position: CAM | Club: Al-Sadd

If Akram Afif is expected to pump in the goals for Qatar, it will be Ali Asad who will wield the magic wand and set it all up. The midfield maestro has been getting rave reviews ever since he stepped up from the Al-Sadd youth ranks and made his mark with the senior team. Although he made 7 appearances in the league winning campaign of 2012-13, it was 2014 that came to be known as his breakout year. His displays with Al-Sadd led to international call-ups and Asad wasted no time in getting down to business. First he starred for the Qatar B team at the WAFF Championship, picking up the Best Player award before turning in a crucial performance when the senior NT won the Gulf Cup in Riyadh. His rise has continued in 2015; he netted a hattrick against Bhutan in the World Cup/Asian Cup qualifiers while also becoming the go-to man in the Al-Sadd midfield alongside Xavi Hernandez. With lots of top level experience already under his belt, the 22 year old Asad is now one of the four senior players in the Qatar Olympic team. Going into Tuesday’s match against China, the young lads of Qatar will be looking to him to be an inspiration. -AH

Akram Afif

DoB: 18/11/1996

Position: CAM – RW – LW – ST | Club: KAS Eupen [loan]

Without a doubt, the main man for Qatar at the AFC U-23 Championship will be Akram Afif. With a pair of quick and tricky feet alongside intelligent finishing, expect him to be a handful for opposing defences. The 19-year forward has been raising eyebrows with a series of impressive displays that has accompanied his rise from the Aspire Academy age group teams. Coming from a footballing family, with both father and brother having played in Qatar, Afif has had a name to live up to. But with the way things are turning out, it seems he will take on the mantle of the family’s best before he’s even 23. Aspire recognized his potential early on and sent him to Villareal and Sevilla to fine-tune his skills. It was in 2014 that Afif actually hogged the headlines with four goals in Qatar’s successful AFC U-19 Championship campaign, including the winner against DPR Korea in the final. He then moved to the Aspire-owned Belgian second division side KAS Eupen, marking his debut with a goal before making further impressive appearances over the year. His rise has been such that he has already been called up to the Qatar senior team and went on to get a goal and an assist on his debut against Bhutan. 2015 also saw Afif play at the U20 World Cup and although Qatar crashed out at the group stage, he managed to score against Senegal. In October, he finished as top scorer with 4 goals in the WAFF U-23 Championship. -AH

IRAN

Rouzbeh Cheshmi:

DoB: 24/06/1993

Position: DM – CB – CM | Club: Esteghlal

Cheshmi is the captain of Iran U-23s national team and is thought of very highly by the coaching staff at club and international level. A defensive midfielder by trait, he can also play at centre back and central midfielder. His leadership skills alongside his high intelligence makes him a crucial player for this side, he is an ever-present figure and gives his team balance by sitting in front of the back four and giving security to his defenders. His composure on the ball makes him a vital part of any offensive move and he’ll be at the heart of everything for this Iran side. -SS

Mohammad Reza Akhbari

DoB: 15/02/1993

Position: GK | Club: Tractor Sazi

Every team needs a good goalkeeper to succeed and Iran have a great number one to rely on when the tournament comes. The 22 year old has had plenty of first team experience as he’s spent the last two seasons playing regular football for Saipa and Tractor Sazi. His performances have made him one of the best keepers in the Persian Gulf Pro League, which has prompted a few call ups to the Iran’s senior team. At 190cm, he is more than capable to command his area. He has been part of the Iran youth setup for a long time so the coaching staff will have full belief in him as he goes into the tournament high in confidence. -SS

Amir Arsalan Motahari

DoB: 10/03/1993

Position: ST | Club: Naft Tehran

This young striker defines the role of a classic “poacher”. He grabbed the attention in the 2014/15 season when his goals helped Naft Tehran qualify from the ACL group as well finishing 3^rd in the domestic league. He was given the “best newcomer” award at the end of the season. He is a smart finisher who comes alive in the box, if he gets the right service he can be one of the deadliest strikers in this tournament. Iran will hope he can carry his great goal scoring tally (12 goals in 17 caps) for the U23s side as they push for an Olympics qualification. -SS

SYRIA

Omar Khribin

DoB: 15/01/1994

Position: CAM – ST | Club: Al-Dhafra (UAE)

Omar Khribin is arguably one of the best players in this tournament, well, for Middle Eastern teams at the very least. His rise has been fantastic, starting off at Al-Wahda in 2003 at the age of 9 years old and lasting with the club until 2011 before playing in the Iraqi Premier League. That is where he became the star he is today, starting off with Quwa Al-Jawiya before ending 2015 with Al-Minaa Al-Basri and leaving the league as top scorer.

He made his big move just a week ago to Al-Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates, playing a sole game before travelling to Doha and catching up with his teammates in the Olympic squad. He arrived in Doha with high morale after scoring on his debut against the biggest club in the U.A.E and one of the region’s top clubs: Al-Ain.

Omar Khribin may be remembered for his double against Singapore a few months ago, where he scored a 93^rd minute winner for Syria in the World Cup Qualifiers. He excelled in that match as a false 10, which is the role he often plays in for club and country. But, Khribin is no stranger to playing up front especially as his physical and technical abilities allow him to thrive with his teammates; most notably Osama Aomry and Mahmoud Al-Mawas. -HF

Mahmoud Al-Mawas

DoB: 1/1/1993

Position: RW – LW | Club: Riffa (BHR) [loan] | Al-Arabi (KUW) [parent club]

Born on the 1^st of January in 1993 (sharing the same birthdate with 5 other players in the team!) Mahmoud Al-Mawas has already earned a blend of experience from the region’s leagues. Like any true “Hamasni” (born in the Syrian city of Homs), Al-Mawas went through the ranks of successful Al-Karamah in Syria that had the likes of Firas Al-Khatib and Mohammad Qwayed as part of the club.

Al-Mawas is a right winger by trade, using his creative abilities more so than your traditional winger like abilities to beat his man. Wall passes, drifting into the centre and even pushing the left back deeper to allow right back Alaa Al-Shibli space on the right are some of his tasks on the field which he excels in. He did exactly that in the Bahraini Clasico against Muharraq:

The partnership between Khribin and Al-Mawas is going to be of high quality due to their time playing together, especially with the good form that they’ve been producing for their clubs too. The Syria team is no doubt one of the stronger teams in the tournament, and now full backs will have to contain the vibrant Al-Mawas too. -HF

Amro Midani

DoB: 26/1/1994

Position: CB | Club: Al-Minaa (IRQ)

Amro Midani is a strong, calm defender for the Syrian Olympic Team and will look to lead the defensive line in the absence of the experienced players who played in the national team. He’s played with Humaid Mido and Omar Khribin at Al-Minaa in Iraq, showing how far the Syrian team goes in terms of chemistry.

He’s only 21 but he’s rational and intelligent, as opposed to being rash and aggressive. He’s one of the better defenders in the Iraqi Premier League at such a young age and he will continue to grow – this tournament being the ideal platform for him to build from. He’s also a product of one of the best youth academies in Syria, Al-Wahda Damascus.

His large afro will certainly grab your attention but watch out for his performances and how he stabilizes the Syrian defence line, who will expect the likes of Arsalan Motahari and Akram Afif. -HF

SAUDI ARABIA

Fahad Al-Muwallad

DoB: 14/09/1994

Position: LW | Club: Al-Ittihad

Fahad Al-Muwallad is more of a player to watch rather than the leading star in this team, and the reason for this is that he may be considered overrated by opposition fans and Al-Ittihad fans themselves. He can either be a frustrating winger who wastes chances, or a deadly forward who will punish defenders. Fahad Al-Muwallad, the Arabian Raheem Sterling?

One thing you cannot take away from the lad is his shooting on its day. Whether it is a bicycle kick, a lob or a powerful long shot straight into the top corner, Fahad Al-Muwallad never fails to surprise you. But placing all hope on him is detrimental, as the weight goes on his small shoulders. When tasked to lead the team recently against Al-Ahli Jeddah in the Crown Prince Cup semi-final, he failed to produce anything worth mentioning.

But, pair him up with Abdulfattah Assiri and Abdulrahman Al-Ghamdi in a competition for youngsters – expect him to excel. -HF

Abdulfattah Assiri

DoB: 26/02/1994

Position: RM | Club: Al-Ittihad

Dubbed the “Messi of Saudi Arabia”, Abdulfattah Assiri is one of the most underrated players in the region and rightly so. Technically gifted, weaving past players like the legend himself at times, it’s going to be interesting how he will play a role in this squad especially that Mustafa Bassas occupies the same role. However, both can operate in the centre if needed.

Assiri is often the creative hub in his team, and he is usually dangerous in all positions. That’s right, whether you find him on the flanks, deeper in the centre, located in the half spaces or even in the box, he will create chances for you. His ability to move between players in tight spaces is relatively on a good level although still a work in progress as he needs to place more emphasis on having a smoother final touch to escape cleanly.

Nevertheless, in terms of eye candy, Assiri is arguably the #1 on that list to watch in this tournament. -HF

Mustafa Al-Bassas

DoB: 02/06/1993

Position: CM – RM – RW – RB | Club: Al-Ahli Jeddah

When the Saudis kick off their U-23 tournament against Thailand, they will be looking at Mustafa Al-Bassas as one of the most senior players in the team. Al-Ahli’s 22 years old man has been in the heart of the Jeddah based club’s unbeaten run of 48 games since 2014. The midfielder first broke into the first team in 2012 under Czech tactician Karel Jarolim, often coming from the bench but gradually established himself alongside Walid Bakhshwin in central midfield. Bassas is also capable of playing out wide as a right back or a right winger. His energy and skill on the ball enables him to play an important role in the team’s attacking play. Yet, his final product needs improvement as evident by his poor return of one assist and no goals from 8 appearances this season and a meagre return of just 4 goals in 2015. Already a full international with 15 senior caps to his name, Bassas is yet to break his international duck. Nevertheless, those stats don’t paint the full picture when it comes to Bassas’ attacking contribution, he often sprays passes to the attacking wide men from deep or ventures in Di Maria-esque runs down the middle to break opponents defences, and despite his unassuming physique (172 cm), the Jeddah-born Ahli youth product does not shy from a tackle and often relishes a midfield battle. His combativeness and forward looking mentality will be key if the Green Falcons are to make it to Rio 2016. -WJ

QATAR U-23 PRE-TOURNAMENT FRIENDLIES

Jilbin George — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 20:50:41 +0000

Felix Sanchez’s boys would try to prove that they mean business when they meet the Uzbekistan U-23 & Yemen U-23 here in Doha on the December 27th and the 30^th. The team will be returning back from a camp from Spain as part of the 1^st part of the training for the upcoming AFC U-23 Championship in 2016 scheduled to be held in Doha from Jan 12-Jan 26. The top 3 teams in the tournament will automatically qualify for the Rio Olympics 2016.

The Qatar U-23 team have been undergoing rigorous training sessions & having friendly matches over the past few months. They would seek to improve their 3rd position finish from the recently concluded WAFF U-23 Championship.

The first camp also featured the friendly match between Qatar U-23 vs. Serbia U-23, wherein Qatar U-23 went down 0-3.

The starting line-up had Muhannad Naim, Musab al-Khadr, Abdelarim Hassan, Yasser Ahmed, Ali Asad, Muhammad Aladdin, Asim Madibo, Moez Ali, Akram Afif, Mohammed Muntari, and Fahd Abdul Rahman.

Players like Akram (K.A.S. Eupen), Muntari (Lekhwiya) would also be aiming to mark their presence in this AFC-U23 as they performance will eventually be used for senior Qatar National Team for the upcoming WC 2018 Russia qualifiers.

Qatar National Coach for the senior team José Daniel Carreño & his staff would keep an eye on this very team for the replacements for the upcoming WC 2018 qualifiers in March.

A second camp after friendlies is scheduled to be held in the Turkey with matches against Iceland & Nigeria included.

Al Annabi need to adapt faster-Coach Felix

It may be cold & chilly after the rains that hit Qatar on Friday & Saturday, but coach Felix’s boys were heating up their ante when they met their Uzbek friends at the Al Ahli Stadium on the 27^th of December.

For the first 25 minutes it seemed both the teams weren’t ready to accede the control of the game. A number of attempts on the Uzbek goalie were dislodged safely on the 13th & 14th minute successively. The Qatari goalie Yousuf Hassan (K.A.S Eupen) pulled out some saves in the 21st & 22nd minutes of the game respectively. A set piece in the 38th minute with Akram (K.A.S Eupen) taking the free kick was wasted with the shot going off target after a shot by Abdelkarim Hassan (C), who is part of the current Al-Sadd team.

Akram Afif (in maroon) tackling Ubaydullaev 9 (in white)

The 2nd half started with Coach Felix making a single change after the break. However the momentum of the game changed with the goal in the 63rd minute of the game with a low long range goal by Uzbek player Komilov, which wasn’t kept out the by the Qatari goalie. However a strong comeback was made in the 70th minute of the game by Abdelkarim, although the shot went off target – his second attempt of the game.

A bit of frustration was evident between the Qatari captain & Al-Hilali (Omani referee) when some decisions didn’t come forthright with the latter getting yellow card instead.

Uzbek teams aggressive counter-attack coupled with some long passes helped them their 2nd goal when there was bit of fumble in the Qatari defence.

Al Annabi had to let go of having Muntari (Lekhwiya) & Nasser Khalfan (Umm Salal) who are currently injured. After the match, coach Felix would now be turning his and the team’s attention to concentrate a bit more harder for the upcoming friendly against Yemen on the 30^th. Some corrections in the team need to take place before they leave for the 2nd camp in Turkey next month, just before the AFC U23 Championships tournament begin.

Starting lineup for Qatar–

Yousuf Hassan (GK), Mussab Khidir, AbdelKarim Hassan (c), Ahmad Moein,Ahmed Fathy,Ahmed Yasserm Ahmed Alaaedin,Ali Asadalla, Akram Hassan, Assim omer, Almoez Ali

Starting lineup for Uzbekistan-Abdujalilov (GK),Komilov, Tursunov, Fomin, Shukurov, Sokhibov, Iskanderov, Sergeev, Khamadamov, Shomurodov, Ubayullaev

A GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR SYRIA: THE U-17 TEAM

Hamoudi — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 12:15:19 +0000

Syria is currently enduring an era of arduous and baleful suffering. Although, still left are the few hundred men immersed in the footballing scene, striving to create an efficient development system that ensures the growth of footballers in the war-stricken nation.

Develop and grow they did, with Syria’s U-17 team now looking forward to joining North Korea, South Korea and Australia as Asian representatives at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile this October. A group of players based locally, encompassed by the concept of imminent failure, quietly eased past Uzbekistan into the final four of the AFC U-16 Championship thus confirming their status as a U-17 World Cup participant. The contemporary Syrian football generation gives hope to their posterity; posterity marred by negligence from autocratic businessmen looking solely to secure their financial position.

A pair of draws with wealthy Gulf nations Saudi Arabia and Qatar left Syria needing at least a draw with talented Iran to qualify for the quarter finals. Iran were exemplars of Middle Eastern giants, with dominating periods over the AFC Asian Cup, WAFF Championship and Asian Games certifying their pre-eminence over the region. The U-17 team was no stranger to success either with a 2008 AFC U-16 Championship triumph (beating none other than Syria in the quarter finals) and a Second Round appearance in Al-Ain during the 2013 edition of the U-17 World Cup.

Anas Al-Aji (11) being chased by Mohammad Shamsi (17) at the AFC U-16 Championship in Thailand.

Syria punishing Iran’s high and unusually positioned defensive line was no mere coincidence, although the sight of a defensively anarchic Iran juxtaposed Carlos Queiroz’s infamous tactical master plan with the senior team. Saudi Arabia and Qatar had their fair share of chances to take control against Team Melli in the previous games although Mohammed Jaddoua and Naim Naim broke through twice during the first half proceedings to shock Iran. Mohammad Soltanimehr’s free kick just before the brink of half time oozed beauty; a mere consolation for what was a complacent Iranian side.

The myth of group rankings failed to manipulate Syria with a 5-2 thrashing taking them through against a previously undefeated Uzbekistan. A damp pitch worked in favour of the Arab country with Abd Al-Rahman Barakat bagging a hat trick in the space of 32 minutes before his teammates Jaddoua and Anas Al-Aji helped Syria blow the Uzbeks away in the first hour. Cries of acrimony towards Barakat’s age were quickly shunned and Syria made history on yet another occasion. A 7-1 drubbing to mighty South Korea in the semi-final exposed their weaknesses but didn’t stop their celebrations.

Tough preparations

Syria U-17, led by Marwan Al-Khoury as previous coach Mohammad Al-Attar stuck to the U-16 group, is stuck in a quandary. With the Syrian FA currently engrossed in bigger problems concerning the league, presidential elections and the senior national team in the World Cup qualifiers (which includes the prolonging saga of the inclusion of star striker Omar Al-Soma) it seems tough for the teenagers looking to represent their country, stuck in dangerous conditions at the time of writing.

There has been little sign of progression with an article as recent as the 17^th of June by Syrian football expert Nasser Al-Najjar stating that there has been a lack of any news regarding preparation for the World Cup with the exception of training every day in camp under the management of Khoury. The teenagers are currently training in the city of Al-Jalaa, part of Deir-El-Zor – currently near the areas of ISIS control.

This was up until they organised a couple of friendly games with their Arabian counterparts Bahrain and Lebanon, losing 1-0 and 2-1 against the former and winning 3-1 and 2-1 against Lebanon in the process. Presently, a trip to South Korea is up next on the list in the phases of preparation for the final training camp staged in Chile. This does come as a surprise after the SFA have continuously shown their negligence towards the U-17 team, with the group having different pairs of socks, different versions of red shirts and shorts, too, compared to their teammates.

Different pairs of socks, different shirts and different shorts amongst the players. Who knows, this may be their only kit.

Nasser Al-Najjar voiced his discontent towards this, and I quote: “We say, if the situation continues as per do not expect any fireworks from our nation, and this is not a pessimistic look, rather it is the reality that we see and the logic that imposes itself”.

Conversely, Marwan Khoury spoke about the positives that the training camp in South Korea will bring: “The camp in South Korea will be a very good indicator of where my players are at, technically and physically. The key is to continue developing their levels and ability to play fluidly between individual and team instructions and the capability of the player to carry out what is asked. My players also have to be able to move between all three phases (defence-midfield-attack) with no problem.”

U-16 groundwork towards Kuwait, India

Mohammad Al-Attar will take the reins once again as he prepares to lead the team towards another AFC U-16 Championship appearance, staged in India next year. Qualification begins this year though with an 8-day period between the 12^th and 20^th of September occupying the nation’s eyes in the vicinity of hope and faith in it’s descendants.

Mohammad Al-Attar, the Syria U-16 head coach.

Afghanistan – pitted once again with Syria after being grouped with them in the 2018 World Cup / 2019 Asian Cup Qualification – and Sri Lanka join Kuwait and Syria in a group that seems to be in favour of the Kuwaitis, taking into account that they will be hosting the games too. But with the Kuwaiti Olympic Committee taking control over certain sectors in the KFA, stadiums unprepared and a Gulf Cup of Nations tournament a burden on the Gulf nation’s back; Syria’s opportunity to make their 6^th consecutive AFC U-16 Championship appearance is glowing in the darkness.

This time, Syria’s squad will not consist of an entirely local squad. As the Syrian diaspora reaches extreme heights with some saying around 10 million fleeing the country since 2011, the better players are sure to be discovered abroad; namely in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

The latter sees Abdulrahman Al-Sibai ply his trade there at an unnamed youth club, while Mohammad Arnaout hails from Kuwait and a surprising Dutch addition in Ahmad Al-Kharfan. Al-Kharfan seeks to become a regular in the Netherlands where a fellow Sanharib Malki did so with Roda JC.

Therefore, with the squad cut down from 120 to 35 and even less in the coming weeks, it will be interesting to see the new breed of Syrian players looking to make a name on the Asian stage. With no working youth league in Syria at the current time there is little to cheer, as optimism amongst the footballing men drains by the day…

*NOTE: Mohammad Al-Attar’s position as U-16 head coach has been changed as Misfat Baniyas coach Ammar Al-Shamali takes over.