1934-2009
He was an Athlete and a coach. He was born in Habbaniyah, and he began his sports life as an Iraqi champion in the 400-meter steeplechase, and the tennis champion of Rusafa. His football talent emerged in the Scout Stadium in 1950 In 1951 he took part in the football match in Cairo between Iraq and Egypt. He scored his first international goal for the Iraqi national team in 1957 against the Moroccan team. He stopped playing because of an injury, and started coaching at the Transportation Club in Baghdad in 1966, He coached the military football team and led it to get the military World Cup in 1972 and 1977, He also coached the Iraqi football team in 1979 and led it to become the winner of the Arab Gulf Cup for the years 1979, 1982, and 1984, in addition to reaching the finals of the Olympic Games times: in 1980, 1984 and 1988, and to win the Arab Cup and the gold medal at the Asian Games. He oversaw the football school of the Iraqi Football Union. He was nicknamed the ‘chief of the Iraqi coaches’, and the ‘legend of the Iraqi football’
