2007–08 Iraqi Premier League

Iraqi Premier League
Season	2007–08
Champions	Erbil; (2nd title)
Relegated	Al-Forat; Sirwan; Al-Jaish; Al-Shuala; Al-Adala; Al-Shatra; Zakho
AFC Cup	Erbil; Al-Zawraa
Arab Champions League	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Top goalscorer	Asaad Abdul-Nabi; (14 goals)
	← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The 2007–08 Iraqi Premier League season started on 26 November 2007 and ended on 24 August 2008. The season saw Erbil crowned as champions for the second time in a row.

For security reasons, the league was divided into three groups: South, North and Central. The top six clubs from the Central Group and the top four clubs from the North and South Groups qualified for the Elite Stage. The Elite Stage consisted of three groups, of which the winners and one runner-up qualified for the Golden Stage, a knockout contest. The Golden Stage matches were held at Al-Shaab Stadium in Baghdad.

The champions and runners-up qualified for the 2009 AFC Cup (Iraq were excluded from the AFC Champions League due to not fulfilling the requirements), while third-placed Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya qualified for the 2008–09 Arab Champions League.^[1]

New rule

The Iraq Football Association introduced a new rule that allowed clubs to make four substitutions instead of three.

Group stage

South Group

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Karbalaa	16	12	2	2	27	12	+15	38	Qualified to Elite Stage
2	Al-Najaf	16	9	5	2	23	9	+14	32
3	Al-Minaa	16	8	6	2	19	10	+9	30
4	Naft Al-Junoob	16	5	6	5	16	14	+2	21
5	Maysan	16	4	7	5	16	17	−1	19
6	Al-Kufa	16	4	5	7	13	15	−2	17
7	Al-Samawa	16	3	7	6	11	18	−7	16
8	Al-Forat	16	4	2	10	17	33	−16	14	Relegated to Iraq Division One
9	Al-Shatra	16	2	2	12	12	26	−14	8	Relegated to Iraq Division One

Source: Goalzz

Results

Home \ Away	FOR	MIN	SAM	SHT	KRB	KUF	MAY	JUN	NJF
Al-Forat		1–0	3–0	2–1	2–4	1–4	1–3	0–2	1–2
Al-Minaa	2–0		2–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	2–1	3–3	0–0
Al-Samawa	2–1	0–0		1–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–1
Al-Shatra	2–3	1–1	2–2		0–2	1–0	0–2	0–1	1–3
Karbalaa	5–0	2–1	1–0	1–0		2–1	1–0	2–1	0–0
Al-Kufa	0–0	0–1	1–0	3–2	1–2		2–2	1–0	0–1
Maysan	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–1	0–1	0–0		1–0	2–1
Naft Al-Junoob	2–0	0–0	2–1	3–0	1–2	0–0	0–0		0–0
Al-Najaf	3–1	0–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	0–0	4–1	3–0

Source: Goalzz
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

North Group

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Erbil	14	9	4	1	21	5	+16	31	Qualified to Elite Stage
2	Duhok	14	9	3	2	16	6	+10	30
3	Peris	14	6	4	4	20	16	+4	22
4	Kirkuk	14	6	3	5	18	17	+1	21
5	Al-Sulaymaniya	14	4	7	3	16	17	−1	19
6	Samaraa	14	3	5	6	10	16	−6	14
7	Sirwan	14	2	4	8	9	14	−5	10	Relegated to Iraq Division One
8	Zakho	14	0	4	10	5	24	−19	4	Relegated to Iraq Division One

Source: Goalzz

Note: Al-Mosul withdrew from the league.

Results

Home \ Away	ARB	DUH	KRK	PER	SMR	SIR	SUL	ZXO
Erbil		0–1	2–0	1–0	4–1	1–0	4–0	0–0
Duhok	1–2		0–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	2–1	1–0
Kirkuk	0–2	0–1		2–3	1–0	3–1	2–2	2–0
Peris	1–1	0–2	1–1		2–0	0–0	3–3	3–0^[a]
Samaraa	1–2	0–1	1–1	2–0		0–2	1–1	3–2
Sirwan	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–1	0–1		1–2	3–0
Al-Sulaymaniya	0–0	0–0	3–1	1–3	0–0	2–0		1–0
Zakho	0–2	0–3^[a]	1–3	1–2	0–0	1–1	0–0

Source: Goalzz
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Zakho's matches with Peris (1–1) and Duhok (0–0) were both awarded as 3–0 defeats for Zakho as a penalty for using an ineligible player.

Central Group

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Al-Shorta	22	13	8	1	40	14	+26	47	Qualified to Elite Stage
2	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	22	14	4	4	42	13	+29	46
3	Al-Kahrabaa	22	10	8	4	30	10	+20	38
4	Al-Zawraa	22	10	7	5	24	12	+12	37
5	Al-Talaba	22	9	9	4	25	17	+8	36
6	Al-Sinaa	22	9	8	5	24	16	+8	35
7	Al-Bareed	22	8	6	8	25	29	−4	30
8	Al-Naft	22	6	9	7	18	24	−6	27
9	Al-Ramadi	22	5	6	11	26	42	−16	21
10	Al-Jaish	22	3	6	13	14	39	−25	15	Relegated to Iraq Division One
11	Al-Shuala	22	3	4	15	14	44	−30	13
12	Al-Adala	22	3	3	16	11	33	−22	12

Source: Goalzz

Results

Home \ Away	ADL	BRD	JSH	KAH	NFT	JAW	RAM	SHO	SHL	SIN	TAL	ZAW
Al-Adala		2–1	0–2	0–3	0–0	0–1	0–2	0–1	0–1	0–2	2–3	1–1
Al-Bareed	2–0		1–0	1–0	1–0	0–2	3–3	1–4	1–1	3–2	0–0	2–2
Al-Jaish	1–0	0–1		1–8	2–2	0–3	1–3	0–0	0–3	0–1	0–0	0–2
Al-Kahrabaa	1–1	4–2	2–0		0–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	0–1	2–0	0–0
Al-Naft	2–1	1–0	2–2	0–0		0–0	3–1	1–1	2–1	0–0	0–2	1–2
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	0–1	1–1	1–0	0–1	2–0		3–1	1–1	3–0^[a]	2–0	1–1	1–0
Al-Ramadi	1–0	2–1	1–2	0–4	2–2	2–7		1–1	1–2	0–2	0–1	0–0
Al-Shorta	3–1	2–0	4–1	0–0	3–0	2–0	4–2		2–1	0–0	1–2	1–0
Al-Shuala	1–2	0–1	1–1	1–0	0–1	0–7	2–3	0–3		1–3	1–3	0–5
Al-Sinaa	2–0	1–2	1–0	1–1	3–0	0–2	0–0	1–1	1–1		2–2	1–0
Al-Talaba	2–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–2	1–1	0–0	3–0	0–0		0–1
Al-Zawraa	1–0	0–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	1–3	2–0	1–2	1–0	1–0	2–0

Source: Goalzz
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

^ Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya were awarded 3–0 victory over Al-Shuala as Al-Shuala did not turn up to the match.

Elite stage

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Erbil	8	4	2	2	9	5	+4	14	Qualified to Semi-finals
2	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	8	4	1	3	10	8	+2	13	Qualified to Semi-final playoff
3	Kirkuk	8	3	1	4	8	9	−1	10
4	Al-Minaa	8	2	3	3	6	8	−2	9
5	Al-Sinaa	8	2	3	3	4	7	−3	9

Source: Goalzz

Results

Home \ Away	MIN	JAW	SIN	ARB	KRK
Al-Minaa		1–0	1–1	0–0	1–0
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	1–0		1–0	2–1	6–3
Al-Sinaa	2–1	0–0		0–3	1–0
Erbil	2–2	1–0	1–0		1–0
Kirkuk	2–0	2–0	0–0	1–0

Source: Goalzz
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Duhok	8	5	3	0	12	3	+9	18	Qualified to Semi-finals
2	Karbalaa	8	4	4	0	9	4	+5	16	Qualified to Semi-final playoff
3	Al-Talaba	8	1	4	3	4	7	−3	7
4	Naft Al-Junoob	8	2	1	5	6	11	−5	7
5	Al-Kahrabaa	8	1	2	5	10	16	−6	5

Source: Goalzz

Results

Home \ Away	KAH	TAL	DUH	KRB	JUN
Al-Kahrabaa		0–1	0–4	1–2	3–1
Al-Talaba	2–2		0–1	0–0	0–1
Duhok	2–2	2–0		0–0	1–0
Karbalaa	2–1	1–1	0–0		2–0
Naft Al-Junoob	2–1	0–0	1–2	1–2

Source: Goalzz
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Al-Zawraa	6	4	1	1	11	5	+6	13	Qualified to Semi-finals
2	Al-Najaf	6	3	2	1	7	4	+3	11	Qualified to Semi-final playoff
3	Al-Shorta	6	1	2	3	5	9	−4	5
4	Peris	6	0	3	3	1	6	−5	3

Source: Goalzz

Results

Home \ Away	SHO	ZAW	NJF	PER
Al-Shorta		1–3	0–1	2–1
Al-Zawraa	1–1		0–1	2–0
Al-Najaf	3–1	2–3		0–0
Peris	0–0	0–2	0–0

Source: Goalzz
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Semi-final playoff

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	Pts	Qualification
1	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	2	1	1	3	3	3	Qualified to Semi-finals
2	Al-Najaf	2	1	1	3	3	3
3	Karbalaa	2	1	1	1	1	3

Source: Goalzz

Results

Home \ Away	JAW	KRB	NJF
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya		0–1
Karbalaa			0–1
Al-Najaf	1–2 FT 2–3 AET (7–8 PK)

Source: Goalzz
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Golden stage

Semi-finals		Final

20 August 2008 - Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

Al-Zawraa	1
		24 August 2008 - Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad
Duhok	0
		Al-Zawraa	0
21 August 2008 - Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad
		Erbil (a.e.t.)	1
Erbil	2

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	0
		Third place

		23 August 2008 - Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

		Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	3

		Duhok	0

Semi-finals

20 August 2008

Al-Zawraa	1–0	Duhok
Abboud 75' (pen.)

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

21 August 2008

Erbil	2–0	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
L. Salah 28' A. Salah 53'

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

Referee: Alaa Abdul-Qadir

Third place match

23 August 2008

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	3–0	Duhok
Radhi 5' Khalid 42' Zwaid 82'

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

Final

24 August 2008

16:30 GMT

Al-Zawraa	0–1 (a.e.t.)	Erbil
		A. Salah 99'

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: Sabah Abid

Al-Zawraa

Erbil



GK	31	Ahmad Ali
DF	3	Ahmed Attiya	36'
DF	15	Gaith Abdul-Ghani (c)	120+2'
DF	6	Ous Ibrahim
DF	29	Waleed Khalid
MF	16	Mohannad Nassir
MF	19	Salar Abdul-Jabbar		95'
MF	26	Thamir Fuad		115'
MF	7	Ali Yousef	48'
MF	28	Sajjad Hussein		46'
FW	10	Abdul-Salam Abboud	97'
Substitutes:
FW	23	Mustafa Ahmad		46'
MF	12	Hussein Saddam		77'
FW	11	Alaa Sattar		95'
MF	27	Naseem Jassim		115'
Manager:
Radhi Shenaishil



GK	21	Sarhang Muhsin
DF	2	Samal Saeed	109'
DF	3	Yassir Raad
DF	31	Salam Shakir
MF	55	Osama Ali	32'	53'
MF	24	Wissam Zaki	26'
MF	14	Khaldoun Ibrahim
MF	23	Shirzad Mohammed		33'
FW	10	Muslim Mubarak		71'
FW	17	Ahmad Salah (c)
FW	11	Luay Salah		108'
Substitutes:
MF	77	Alaa Nayrouz		33'
DF	4	Rafid Badr Al-Deen		53'
MF	18	Haidar Qaraman		71'
MF	8	Haidar Sabah		108'
Manager:
Thair Ahmed

Match officials

Assistant referees:
- Hussein Turki
- Mohammed Arab
Fourth official:
- Kadhim Awda

Match rules

90 minutes.
30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
Penalty shootout if scores still level.

Final positions

Pos	Team	Pld	Pts	Eff	Qualification
1	Erbil	24	51	70.8%	2009 AFC Cup
2	Al-Zawraa	30	53	58.9%	2009 AFC Cup
3	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	34	65	63.7%	2008–09 Arab Champions League
4	Duhok	24	48	66.7%
Eliminated in the Semi-Final Play-Off
5	Al-Najaf	24	46	63.9%
6	Karbalaa	26	57	73.1%
Eliminated in the Elite Stage
7	Kirkuk	22	31	47.0%
8	Al-Talaba	30	43	47.8%
9	Al-Shorta	28	52	61.9%
10	Al-Minaa	24	39	54.2%
11	Naft Al-Junoob	24	28	38.9%
12	Al-Sinaa	30	44	48.9%
13	Al-Kahrabaa	30	43	47.8%
14	Peris	20	25	41.7%
Eliminated in the Group Stage
15	Al-Bareed	22	30	45.5%
16	Al-Sulaymaniya	14	19	45.2%
17	Maysan	16	19	39.6%
18	Al-Naft	22	27	40.9%
19	Al-Kufa	16	17	35.4%
20	Samaraa	14	14	33.3%
21	Al-Samawa	16	16	33.3%
22	Al-Ramadi	22	21	31.8%
Relegated
23	Al-Forat	16	14	29.2%
24	Sirwan	14	10	23.8%
25	Al-Jaish	22	15	22.7%
26	Al-Shuala	22	13	19.7%
27	Al-Adala	22	12	18.2%
28	Al-Shatra	16	8	16.7%
29	Zakho	14	4	9.5%

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Asaad Abdul-Nabi	Al-Kahrabaa	14
2	Taiseer Abdul-Hussein	Al-Shorta	12
2	Hussam Saeed	Al-Etisalat / Al-Zawraa	12
4	Yassir Abdul-Mohsen	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	11
4	Abdul-Salam Abboud	Al-Zawraa	11

Awards

Top scorer: Asaad Abdul-Nabi (Al-Kahrabaa)
Best Player/MVP: Ahmad Ayad (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Best Coach: Radhi Shenaishil (Al-Zawraa)

References

^ "Iraqi League 2007–2008". Goalzz.com.

External links

Iraqi Football Website

[table_note_1_PER_ZXO0.62741255929107-2] Zakho's matches with Peris (1–1) and Duhok (0–0) were both awarded as 3–0 defeats for Zakho as a penalty for using an ineligible player.

[table_note_1_JAW_SHL0.76386468846531-3] Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya were awarded 3–0 victory over Al-Shuala as Al-Shuala did not turn up to the match.

[1] "Iraqi League 2007–2008". Goalzz.com.

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