I'm surprised he didn't already get sacked after the 2-0 loss to Karbala.. I think the quality isn't there anymore. You used to have the backbone of our NT in Shorta, but this has changed.
Sunday 25 Dec: Naft - Zawraa Karkh - Hudood Kahraba - Samawa Monday 26 Dec: Minaa - Naft Junoob Amanat Baghdad - Najaf Hussein - Karbala Bahri - Jawiya
Unfortunately yes. Shorta were the best team and also the most professionally-run team between 2013-2015. We were run like a proper club which is rare in Iraq. We had sponsorship deals and kit deals, a new stadium being built, a TV channel was even going to be created dedicated to the club. We had most of the Iraq national team players (we had 9 players in the Asian Cup squad, and in one friendly match against Kuwait I think we had 7 or 8 players all in the starting lineup) and good foreign players. We even managed to play in the AFC Champions League qualifying rounds, and we won two straight league titles which should have been three if it wasn't for the silly format of the 14-15 league. That was all because of Ayad Bunyan who was the club president. Then Riyadh Abdul Abbas forced Bunyan out. I don't even know how it happened really. It was corruption at its worst. Riyadh is a cancer to Iraqi football. He took the club so far downhill. Our new stadium isn't even being constructed on anymore. We sold many of our main players. Appointing Hakeem Shakir was the low point when he lost almost every game he managed for us. Things have improved since Riyadh left but it will take a long time to get back to how we used to be. We won't win the league but we really need to take the FA Cup seriously. It would be a great start to getting back to where we want to be. Not only is it silverware (and we've never won the FA Cup before) but it qualifies you for the AFC Cup so we must focus on that this season, rather than the shambles of last season where we withdrew (who knows why).
http://www.eremnews.com/sports/football/arab/642709 Iraq FA cancels Iraqi Super Cup which was meant to be between Zawraa and Jawiya. They claim that there is a lack of time to play the cup. It's a single leg match. Is it really that hard for our FA to schedule it? Typical FA.
Talking about cups, what happened to the FA Cup? I have a feeling it will be cancelled, as they can't even make a proper schedule for the league. Hopeless FA..
Breaking news is that Round of 32 and Round of 16 will be played in late March. http://forum.kooora.com/f.aspx?t=36673602
I have no idea how we will finish the season in time, given the postponements and FA Cup.. Iraqi football is a big mess
A tragic accident happened yesterday. Raheem Oulabi, player of Karbala, got saved from swallowing his tongue. Other news: Amjad Kalaf joined Zawraa after being released by Shorta
For those who want to follow the league: http://www.goalzz.com/main.aspx?c=12547 (for fixtures and results) https://www.facebook.com/IraqiSoccerNetwork/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf (for streams and highlights)
Tommorow is the big derby: Jawiya - Zawraa. Huge attendance is expected. Honestly I can't wait Come on Zawraa!!
FT: Jawiya 1-1 Al Zawraa Goals by Alaa Abdul Zahra and Amjed Radhi fan attendance was incredible. Stadium was full well before the game. A journalist at the match says 100k tickets were sold At the same time, this game showed that we need a brand new stadium in Baghdad. Al Shaab is a historic stadium but it's incredibly old and the running track is not good. Baghdad deserves a modern stadium.
There are talks within the AFC to implement the license system in the AFC Cup for next season. Which means that our FA is forced to establish a professional league next season, and clubs have to fulfill the criteria (otherwise they won't allow Iraqi clubs in the AFC Cup!) Hopefully it goes through. It's about time we make steps towards a fully functioning professional league..
https://www.facebook.com/lorival.santos.503/posts/1923974061151114 ^ My interview with Lorival Santos, the only manager outside Asia to win the Iraqi League
http://forum.kooora.com/f.aspx?t=36841018 A proposal has been made for the dates of the remaining league games. If the FA accepts this proposal, Jawiya will play 6 games in the space of 20 days in May. Then the league would take a two week break at the start of June, and Jawiya would play their remaining 9 games in the space of 1 month! Not to mention that if Jawiya gets to the next round of the AFC Cup, they would have 3 more games in their schedule and their 3 league games on those dates would have to get moved to make it even tighter...
Found this Al-Zawraa shirt on Ebay if anyone is interested lol. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IRAQ-AL-Z...Jersey-Football-Maglia-Camiseta-/371935731085
Damn, I missed it. I've been building a collection of football kits and this would have been a fantastic addition, especially since Zawraa is my favourite Iraqi team.
http://www.kooora.com/?n=592195 ^ According to kooora, the league could be cancelled because of the scheduling difficulties. This would mean no teams would be relegated, and 4 would be promoted leading to a 24-team league next season split into two groups of 12 with the teams who top the groups playing the final. IraqFPG and Football-iq are also reporting the league could be cancelled, and Football-iq are reporting that the FA Cup could be abandoned too (because the round of 16 was supposed to be played this week but can't because of Zawraa-Jawiya game). If true, what a disgrace.
Zawraa 0-1 Jawiya HT Hammadi scored the goal, and Jawiya earned a penalty which they missed (thank god). Exciting first half so far...