IraqSport

What a mess the Iraq Football Association has got themselves in, they have sacked Egil Olsen though he doesn’t even know it yet, and now Iraq FA president Hussein Saeed has been hailed as the saviour of Iraq’s World Cup hopes or has he? Since the game against China, the IFA began looking for any excuse to get rid of Drillo, first saying they could not pay the monthly wages of his assistant coach Otto Ulseth and now seemingly they have sacked the Norwegian because he would not coach the team in Iraq. Which is quite ironic considering Iraq FA president Hussein Saeed hasn’t seen the sunset in Iraq for two years. However this is just an excuse, as on the day that Drillo put pen to the deal with the IFA five months ago, he publicly stated that he was advised by the Norwegian Foreign Office not to coach in Iraq, even though it was in the relative safety of the Kurdistan Region as Norway did not consider it safe enough.

So why was he sacked? His health was seen to be a factor after he had recently recovered from a minor back operation, and Iraqi fans have even mocked his old age and complained that he could not see or hear properly however Drillo came out and declared he was fit as ever and was prepared to take part in training himself. The coach objected to the player’s lack of discipline and time-keeping during training sessions while some of the players failed to adjust to Olsen’s new style of training and tactics. Again the age-old argument of an Iraqi coach knowing best about the player’s mentality and psyche has cropped up, as it did when Stange was coach and Adnan Hamad took charge with the full support of the players, but is that the problem, or is it that the players can’t or just don’t want to adapt to a new way of playing and thinking. Are the players prepared to graft and work to improve at their own game? or did they not take to Olsen’s demanding work-ethic which brought him so much success leading his country to the 1994 and 1998 World Cup. In his short time as coach, Drillo has managed to hold only two training camps in Doha and in the UAE, spending little time with the players, and having most of his foreign-based contingent unavailable due to club commitments. If his sacking came about because of the draw with China then it seems like a knee jerk reaction and a surprising one considering Olsen was Hussein Saeed’s first choice as national coach.

There were three key moments in the match that ended in the 1-1 draw, the first came in the 25 second, when Younis Mahmoud pulled his hamstring, the second was when Iranian referee Mohsen Torky disallowed Karrar Jassim’s goal on the stroke of half-time, and then lastly when Iraq were down to 10 men when Nashat Akram, a key part of Olsen’s tactical jigsaw, was sent off. It came as no surprise that China equalised not long after, and Iraq in disarray had little to reply with. However it was not only about the result with China. On one hand, a draw was not a good start, but on the other, it did not signal the end of Iraq’s World Cup campaign either.

Is the problem with the players? The petty arguments over the captaincy have played a part in the disharmony in the squad, and have previously affected Iraq’s performances as the 2-0 defeat in Singapore two years ago clearly demonstrated. However does the team have any true leaders, like Jamil Abbas, Abid Kadhim or Raad Hammoudi? I can’t see a leader in the team. The current captain Younis Mahmoud maybe a role model for youngsters off the field, but on it he spends most of the time diving or arguing with the referee, and his captain’s armband has seemingly given him the freedom to dictate to his team-mates.

After the end of the war, FIFA president Sepp Blatter declared that the only person he would work with in Iraq, would be Hussein Saeed, a former Baath party member. A legendary figure in Iraqi football history having played at all levels for Iraq from schoolboy level to the senior side and holding the record for the most goals and games for Iraq (which funnily enough can’t be verified by the FA as they do not keep records nor have they ever done), he seemed to be the perfect man to lead the rebuilding of the Football Association and side stepped the de-baathification law that was introduced under the administrative leadership of Paul Bremer. Before the war he had been working as general secretary of the FA, and was seen as Uday’s right hand man. He was appointed FA president in an interim role in 2003 and stood unopposed in the 2004 elections after rumours that rival Ahmed Radhi would stand against him. The pair had clashed on various issues after the war, as Hussein Saeed held the position of president and Ahmed Radhi as vice-president. It all came to a head when in the summer of 2004; Ahmed Radhi and IFA member Basim Jamal were arrested on the suspicion of throwing hand grenades at Hussein Saeed’s home. The charges were later dropped and the pair were released.

Things began well for Hussein Saeed, with the Olympic team qualifying for the Athen Games, and Adnan Hamad taking charge of the national side, but the IFA seemed to be going back to its old ways, with the same old faces in charge of key positions as they were before the war. Many felt that the IFA president was stifling the development of the game with the centralisation of power held by the FA, as everything even offers from foreign companies to build football stadiums had to go though the IFA first. While key figures in the FA such as current treasurer Abdul-Khaliq Masoud were only given secure jobs as they had supported and helped vote in the former Talaba striker. Several people on the payroll of the IFA do little for the Association or the development of the game. The ineptness of the FA was perfectly demonstrated when it sent a delegation outside of Iraq for a training camp for the national team with four officials but no physio. It would not come as a surprise to hear that none of the four actually aided the national team in anyway in the two-week camp.

There have been fresh allegations of bribery and corruption made against Hussein Saeed, other members of the FA and even assistant coach Rahim Hamed however they are so absurd that they just can’t be true. One of the claims is that Nashat Akram handed $20,000 over as a ‘gift’ to the IFA delegation holding a training camp for the Under 17s team in Dubai before the qualifiers that were to be held in Saudi Arabia, so he would be named captain for the World Cup qualifiers against Pakistan. Which was supposedly one of the reasons keeper Nour Sabri left the team after the match against China, though his goalkeeping coach Ahmed Jassim refuted the allegations, saying that the reason was a simple one, and would be sorted out soon. Other allegations included players Ahmed Manajid and Ahmed Salah being asked to pay the sum of around $2,000 USD to play for the national team. I like to add that none of the people that made these allegations have come up with any proof.

Incompetence is the word that can best sum up Olsen’s appointment and sacking in the space of only five months. If the IFA did not have enough funds to appoint Drillo then why did they hand him a three-year contract, and where has the IFA 2008 budget gone. They have recently signed sponsorship deals with LG Electronics, a two year contract Chinese sportswear company PEAK worth an annual $400,000 and an undisclosed TV deal with Swiss company Match World Sport who bought the TV rights for Iraq’s 2006 World Cup qualifying matches (rumoured to be worth more than the deal with PEAK), would be more than enough to cover the combined wages for both Olsen and Ulseth for a year (approx. $530,000 USD). Have they miscalculated, or were they thinking Olsen’s lawyer Gunnar Martin Kjenner would help them gain more money from other sponsorship deals. So where is the money going? the IFA has not invited any top nations for any friendly internationals and during training camps the host country usually picks up the tab.

Hussein Saeed has now held the presidency for nearly four years, and for most of it, he has triumphed in the face of adversity, getting the Iraqi Football League back up in a four or three group regional format since the end of the war, and seeing Iraq’s fairytale run in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and the 2007 Asian Cup victory. However under his tenure, he has been dogged by rumours of wide spread corruption at the FA, and accusations that the state of the Iraq FA is not much better than it was under Uday, with many ‘hangers on’ not doing anything to help football in Iraq or develop it in anyway. So is it time for a change, and hand the job to someone else. His critics claim he has not stepped on Iraqi soil for two years spending most of his time at the FA’s makeshift headquarters in Amman and jetting off to Europe and the Gulf at the expense of the FA. The Gulf Cup fiasco threatened the FA president’s job however in true Machiavellian spirit everyone else but himself was blamed and after an investigation, the end result saw the national coach lose his job along with the suspension of three player, that had gone public with their allegations of the coach and the FA president having sold out to the Saudis. The trend of overage players selected in the junior and youth teams that featured regularly under the old leadership of Uday still continues to this day, with the clear knowledge of FA officials. Hussein Saeed told one young Iraqi player living in Europe that he should try out for the youth team even though the IFA president knew he was over the age of 20. While fielding an ineligible player for the youth team and having overage players on the junior team has cost Iraq a place in the finals of the Asian Youth and Junior Championship, and given the Iraqi fans little confidence in the current FA.

Jorvan Vieira’s comments in an interview for Ishtar TV put it out in the open, when talking about his meeting with the IFA president on the weekend Hussein Saeed had to pick between the Brazilian or the Norwegian, he stated “I told him I can’t work with some people who work in the federation, it was exceptions, I can’t work with some peoples, I don’t need to mention names, those peoples I think can’t do nothing for the Iraq football, if we want to be serious, we have to put competent peoples to work not to the people who just want to promote themselves by the football or in the name of the Iraq national team”. Hussein Saeed had reportedly told the Brazilian that his win in Jakarta came out of luck.

Like the Iraqi government everyone at the Iraq FA seem to give their own personal opinion as an official announcement of the FA to the press, these past few weeks have seen Hussein Saeed, Abdul-Khaliq Masoud, Ahmed Abbas and Basim Jamal giving interviews on the situation involving the coach Olsen, all giving varying details or even contradicting each other. Now finally the worst kept secret in Iraqi football has come out, Adnan Hamad will take charge of the national team for the game against Qatar on March 26. This comes after an agreement was reached between his club Al-Faisali and the Iraq Football Association has allowed the former Al-Zawraa coach to take charge of the team 12 days before the Qatar game. His contract with the Jordanian club, where he has coached since 2006 ends on April 18, and he is expected to take charge of the team for the rest of the qualifying campaign.

Adnan Hamad is seen as the perfect choice, the four-time former coach of Iraq has vast experience at international level and enjoys the mutual respect of the players. He has been called the ‘father’ of the current generation having coached many of them while at the helm of the Iraqi youth team in 2000, which won the Asian Youth Championship in Tehran. It is he that can take most of the credit for Iraq’s Asian Cup win in Jakarta last summer, with his style and even the 4-5-1 formation he first deployed in the second half in a quarter-final match against China at the 2004 Asian Cup however with these successes, the coach has his failures which came during the 2002 and 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, in which he was heavily criticised. Legendary former national coach Ammo Baba and many other respected figures have questioned Olsen’s sudden sacking and Hamad’s appointment stating that a change of coach would not benefit the national team at this very moment.

In the short term, Iraq need to beat Qatar next month, whether with Olsen or Hamad in charge and in the long term Hussein Saeed and his cronies have got to go for the better of Iraqi football.

www.the-afc.com

BAGHDAD: Iraq youth team coach Abdul Ilah Abdul Hameed has called up 23 players for the final training camp in Doha before selecting his team for the AFC Youth Championship in India at the end of this month.

The camp will run from October 18-27. Abdul Hameed is expected to drop three players from the original pool and announce the final squad before the team flies out to Bangalore on October 27.

Iraq, who have won the Asian youth title five times, drew with Air Force club 1-1 in their last friendly in Baghdad last week.

Iraq will start their campaign on October 30 against Saudi Arabia, before going up against Vietnam two days later and they will conclude their matches in the group stages by taking on Malaysia on November 3.

THE SQUAD:

Hussein Jabbar, Mohammed Kabil, Mohammed Kalaf, Osama Ali, Ra’ed Ibrahim, Ala’a Abdul Zahra, Osama Shaker, Wesam Jabbar, Jasim Mohammed, Amar Abdul Zahra, Ayad Sadeir, Ibrahim Kamel, Yasir Abdul Muhsain, Qusay Abdul Wahid, Ala’a Kate’a, Khaldoon Ibrahim, Aqeel Hussein, Ali Jabbar, Bashar Saad, Halkard Mulla Mohammed, Ameer Sabah, Omer Kadhum, Mohmmed Shaker.

Arouba sack Basim Qasim

Coach Basim Qasim has been sacked by UAE club Al-Arouba after two consecutive defeats in the second division.

Khalfan Al-Naimi, the club’s secretary said that the club had dispensed with the club after the team failed to live up to the club’s aspirations despite the availability of all capabilities, Al-Naimi added that the club board had come to the decision also due to the feelings of the players about the training. His asssitant fellow Iraqi coach Sabah Abdul-Hussein will take up the role as caretaker.

Al-Aroubi Iraqi striker Abbas Hassan also had his contract terminated and the club are currently looking for a new player to replace him.

Basim Abdul-Hassan make at Al-Jaish Club

Former Iraqi international Basim Abdul-Hassan has returned to his old club Al-Jaish after five years playing for Talaba. The right sided player, with 4 caps for the national team, moved to the Students club from Al-Jaish in 2000 after helping the Army club to a Iraq FA Cup semi-final.

Basim came to prominence with the Iraqi youth team under Adnan Hamad, helping Iraq win the 2000 Asian Youth Championship in Tehran, and later went onto play at the 2001 World Youth Championship in Cordoba, Argentina.

He later made his international debut after being selected by Croatian Rudolf Belin for a 2002 World Cup qualifier against Iran in Baghdad.

IRAQ finally booked their spot at next years Asian Cup with double from Younis Mahmoud helping the Assood Al-Rafidain to a 4-2 win over Singapore in a roller-coaster match played at the Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The two nations had met at the start of the year in Singapore when Radojko Avramovic’s men surprisingly beat the Iraqis 2-0. The corresponding fixture in Abu Dhabi saw the return of Iraq’s midfield maestro Nashat Akram, back from a eight month-long suspension he received in an an incident after the 2-0 defeat to Singapore, which all surrounded the question of whom should captain the national side before the game.

Ahmed Kadhim was recalled after a year out of the side to replace the suspended Ali Hussein Rahema at libero or qashash, while goalkeeper Nour Sabri was preferred ahead of the young and inexperienced Sarhang Muhsin by coach Akram Salman Ahmed.

It was the visitors missing three key players due to suspensions and injuries – including Noh Alam Shah who netted in the team’s last encounter against Iraq - that came closest with an effort from outside the box from Nigerian-born defender Precious Emuejeraye that went wide of Nour Sabri’s goal.

However only five minutes later on nine minutes Singapore opened the scoring with a headed goal by another one of Singapore’s foreign contingent, Brazilian-born Egmar Goncalves (wearing the number 44 jersey for his adopted country) from a Shahril Ishak’s corner.

The goal only brought Iraq into the game, as they looked for the equaliser that never seemed to be forthcoming, with Hawar Mulla-Mohammed, Younis Mahmoud and Nashat Akram coming close with efforts at Lionel Lewis’ goal.

Iraq’s No.10, Younis was the biggest culprit after failing to convert an effort with the goal gapping wide open, however in the 35 minute, he produced a piece of magic that brought his side back into the game.

After picking up a ball outside the penalty box from Haidar Abdul-Amir from the right flank, he played a one-two with Salih Sadir on the edge of the penalty box, before weaving his way past the Singaporean defence and placing the ball past the keeper to score.

In the last minute of the first half, Shi Jiayi nearly helped his side gain an advantage but his header from Mustafic Fahrudin’s cross went wide, as the teams went into half-time at 1-1.

Only ninety seconds into the second half Iraqi skipper Ahmed Kadhim fouled the lively striker Khairul Amri on the right side of the Iraqi box, Singapore’s striker stepped up the take the resulting free-kick but his shot went high and wide.

Egmar Goncalves went close four minutes later with a rasping drive from 20 yards but it failed to trouble the Iraqi keeper. Shi Jiayi limped off after 57th minutes as Mohammad Isa Halim trotted onto replace him, and one of his first contributions to the game, was to foul Younis Mahmoud on the edge of the box.

The range was perfect for Hawar Mulla-Mohammed already with two goals from free-kick in Iraq’s Asian Cup qualifying campaign against China and Palestine, however this time he left it to Younis Mahmoud, who curled the ball over the wall beating the keeper but not the crossbar.

Though the static Singapore defence was caught square as the first player on the mark from the rebound, was Iraq’s industrious midfielder Mahdi Karim who beat Itimi Dickson and Precious Emuejeraye and saw his shot deflected off sub Mohammad Isa Halim and into the net. But the lead lasted all of two minutes as Khairul Amri sweetly struck free-kick to beat Nour Sabri in Iraq’s goal.

Iraq missed several chances to get back into the lead, with defender Daniel Bennet having to clear the ball off the goalline after Younis Mahmoud had beaten keeper Lewis to the ball from a long through ball from Ahmed Kadhim, but Younis made amends with a bullet effort from 30 yards in the 68th minute that left the Singapore keeper flailing, to give Iraq the lead once again.

As Serbian coach Radojko “Raddy” Avramovic brought on striker Ashrin Shariff for Egmar Goncalves with quarter of an hour left of the game, Singapore continued to pour forward, which left gaps for Hawar and Younis to exploit in their opponent’s defence, and in the last minute of the game a run on the right wing by Mahdi Karim was finished off by Hawar with a perfectly executed header that beat the Singapore keeper, and put Iraq into the finals of the Asian Cup for the sixth time.

Iraq 4-2 Singapore
Younis Mahmoud 35, 68, Mahdi Karim 61, Hawar Mulla Mohammed 93; Egmar Goncalves 9, Mohammad Khairul Amri 63

Iraq: 22 - Nour Sabri; 2 - Ahmed Kadhim [c], 14 - Haidar Abdul-Amir, 27- Jassim Mohammed Haji, 32 - Khalid Musher, 11 - Hawar Mulla Mohammed , 5 - Nashat Akram ( 25 - Mohammed Nassir 92’), 6 - Salih Sadir ( 4 - Yassir Raad 73’), 18 - Mahdi Karim, 7 - Emad Mohammed ( 19 - Haitham Kadhim 71’), 10 - Younis Mahmoud.
Coach: Akram Salman Ahmed

Singapore: 18 - Lionel Lewis, 16 - Daniel Bennett , 21 - Precious Emuejeraye, 5 - Aide Iskandar Sahak [c], 17 - Mohammad Shahril Ishak, 2 - Shi Jiayi ( 23 - Mohammad Isa Halim 57’), 41 - Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin ( 25 - Itimi Dickson Edherefe 25’), 15 - Mustafic Fahrudin, 14 - Subramani “Mani” Shunmugham, 44 - Egmar Goncalves ( 9 - Ashrin Shariff 74’), 19 - Mohammad Khairul Amri.
Coach: Radojko Avramovic (Serbia)

Referee: Mamed Mamedov (Turkmenistan)
Linesmen: Begench Allaberdiyev (Turkmenistan) & Rashid Palvanov (Turkmenistan)
Fourth Official: Kakabay Seydov (Turkmenistan)
Cautions: Mustafic Fahrudin 27′, Mahdi Karim 70′.

Theng Wai Mun (www.fas.org.sg)
info@fas.org.sg

Finding the net will be high on Singapore’s priorities as a titanic Asian Cup Qualifiers clash with Group E rivals Iraq beckons in the wee hours of Thursday morning (Singapore time).

The Lions have not scored in the campaign since beating Iraq 2-0 at home in the opening fixture in February.

But with just three points behind both Iraq and China, the importance of a positive result against the Gulf giants is too significant to miss.

A second consecutive victory over the Iraqis would see Singapore overtake them into second spot based on head-to-head records and consequently seize the initiative going into the final round of qualification matches in November.

To achieve that will be no mean feat for the Lions, who will face Iraq in the neutral town of Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates.

Iraq are undefeated in their adopted home ground, having collected full points against China before being held to a surprise draw by Palestine last month.

On both occasions, however, the Iraqis have conceded at least one goal – a fact that will certainly be heartening for their next opponents.

With ace marksmen Indra Sahdan and Noh Alam Shah unavailable through injury and suspension respectively, the likes of Egmar Goncalves, Khairul Amri and Ashrin Shariff will be hoping to step up to the plate and deliver the goods in their place.

Ashrin will be particularly keen to break his competitive duck for the Lions, as he expressed awareness of the need for victory.

“We need to go all out for the win if we want to qualify, and to do that we need to score,” said the striker, who turns 24 on the eve of the match.

“We have fortunately been helped by our midfield, which creates lots of chances for us. All that is left is for us to do what strikers do and finish off those chances.”

The task sounds easy enough on paper for the trio of Ashrin, Amri and Goncalves, who have between them, scored 43 goals in the S.League season so far.

But with a total haul of just eight in national colours, things have proven more than a trifle challenging at the international level – an observation Ashrin was quick to make.

“Club football, especially at home, is very different from international football,” he said.

“I was not able to play against them in February because I was injured, but I watched them play that time, so I’m aware of a few things. But we have to try things out against them on the field by going on the attack.”

While attacking will be high on the minds of the Lions forward line, the key point is not to attack hard, but to attack smart.

That was the message sent by national coach Radojko Avramovic, who has maintained his call to make the chances count against a side he still considered strong and dangerous.

Avramovic was unfazed by the Iraqis’ 0-2 defeat to perennial rivals Iran in last week’s LG Peace Tour friendly, even as Singapore defeated Omani outfit Al Nahda 2-1.

“Winning or losing in a friendly match does not mean anything, and Iraq are still a good team even though we have beaten them before,” said the Serbian.

“We have to be more cool and rational in the way we handle the attacking part of our game. Instead of individuals trying to do things all by themselves, we have to use the whole team.”

The Group E match between Iraq and Singapore will kick off at 2130hrs local time

Game Time

17:30hrs, Wednesday, 11 Oct, GMT
20:30hrs Wednesday, 11 Oct, Baghdad time
01:30hrs, Thursday 12 Oct, Singapore time
03:30hrs, Thursday, 12 Oct, AEST

19 year-old Iraqi striker has finally put pen to paper on a five year contract worth $120,000 US dollars with Egyptian club ENPPI, after failing to agree terms with Ismaili.

The striker first started his playing career in the Talaba youth team, but it was only when he joined Kahraba in 2004 that he made his mark with 16 goals in 16 games.

He move to Al-Shurta followed, and he had also represented Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in the Asian Champions League last season. He will join the ENPPI club after playing his last game for Arbil in the Arab Champions League against Ismaili.

It is the question every Iraqi football fan is asking, who should coach Akram Salman Ahmed name as Iraq’s number one goalkeeper for the game against Singapore, Sarhang Muhsin or Nour Sabri.

The goalkeeping position has been a problem since the likes of Emad Hashim and Hashim Khamis have retired from international football. Despite Iraq having several new up and coming goalkeepers, non-have managed to cement a place in the first team, to be considered Iraq’s No.1. One of the young keepers Nour Sabri was expected to be Iraq’s next great goalkeeper, having made his top division debut for Al-Kadhimiya at the age of just 15, and called into the national squad only a few days after turning 16. His international came in 2002, at the age of 18 years, and 34 days; and after he was picked ahead of the more experienced Saad Nassir for the 2002 WAFF Championship in Damascus, and with the long-term injury to nearest rival Ahmed Ali, Nour was expected to cement his place in the team, but it never materialised.

After hearing of an explosion near his home, where his wife and young daughter were staying, before a crucial Olympic qualifier against Oman in Muscat, with Iraq already 2-0 down coach Adnan Hamad decided to replace Nour with Ahmed Ali. He only won back his place after Ahmed Ali was sent-off in the quarterfinal of the 2004 Asian Cup against China.

After some great performances at the Olympic Games in Athens, the team and Nour were brought back to earth after finishing bottom of their group in the Gulf Cup in Doha. After Akram Salman was appointed national coach, one of his first jobs was to find a reliable pair of hands. The first person that was tried was the well-built Sarmed Rasheed however his international debut did not go well as he was at fault for Australia’s equaliser letting Marco Bresciano’s free-kick squirm under his body. Australia’s winner could also have been saved by the keeper, and after only one appearance Sarmed was back on the bench.

The next was Wisam Kasid, a member of the national squad since 2002, but never made an appearance for the national team. It was his match winning performance against Jordan, that finally looked like Akram had found his keeper but his two blunders against Cyprus, which cost Iraq the game, meant he was pushed to the side.

With no other keepers to try out, he recalled Nour for the 2005 Asian Games in Doha, and he was one of the best players during the tournament, as Iraq won gold, Nour also scored the winning penalty in the shoot-out final against Syria. But the curse stroke again, when he let Muayad Salim’s tame shot squirm under him, and tried his best to save the ball from going over the line, with little success.

After the Iraqi team trained in Arbil, the Iraqi coach spotted one young keeper from the Arbil Sports Club, his name was Sarhang Muhsin, then only 19 years old.

After Nour’s blunder in the 2-1 defeat to Jordan, coach Akram gave the youngster a chance, and made his debut during the last five minutes of a game against Syria, and in the next game made his first international start in a 1-0 win over Jordan, and has been a regular since.

However his last two displays have been less than convincing, though Palestine’s equaliser in the 2-2 draw should not have been allowed to stand after Sarhang was clearly fouled, and several critics in the football circles have called for the youngster to be replaced for a more experienced keeper in Nour Sabri.

Whether the coach picks Sarhang or Nour, one of them will have be at their best for a potential ‘banana-skin’ against Singapore.