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Abdul-Ghani Shahad

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Abdul-Ghani Shahad
Personal information
Full name Abdul-Ghani Shahad
Date of birth (1968-03-07) 7 March 1968 (age 56)
Place of birth Najaf, Iraq
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1999 Al-Najaf
Managerial career
1999 Al-Najaf
2003–2008 Al-Najaf
2005–2006 Iraq U-20 (assistant)
2008–2009 Al-Talaba
2009–2010 Karbala
2010–2013 Al-Najaf
2013–2015 Naft Al-Wasat
2015– Iraq U23
2016 Iraq (interim)
2016–2017 Naft Al-Wasat
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Abdul-Ghani Shahad (born 7 March 1968) is an Iraqi professional football coach and former player who is the current manager of Iraq U23. Abdul-Ghani started his playing career at Al-Najaf FC and remained a one club man throughout his career. Upon his retirement in 1999, he went in coaching and managed his hometown club Al-Najaf for 7 years, achieving a second place finish. He moved around and managed a number of Iraqi sides, before winning his first Iraqi Premier League title with Naft Al-Wasat. Abdul-Ghani went on to be appointed as manager of the Iraqi U23 national team, where he guided the team towards Olympic qualification and a third place finish in the AFC U-22 Championship

Playing career

Abdul-Ghani started his career as a 19 year old with Al Najaf, and he remained loyal to his boyhood club for 12 years until his retirement in 1999. His first season in 1986/87 was in the second division, and were promoted to the second division one year later. From 1987 onwards, Al Najaf slowly established itself as an important team in the Iraqi league, moving gradually from mid table towards title-contention. Abdul-Ghani was a fixture of the team from '87 onwards alongside Ali Hashim, Hassan Jawad, Mohammed Abdul-Hussein, Haidar Najim, with the team managed by legendary Najih Humoud. The team peaked in the late '90s finishing 3rd in the 94–95 season, and second in the 95–96 season. Abdul-Ghani was an unused substitute as Al Najaf won its first ever silverware, the 1997 Iraqi Elite Cup. Towards 1999 Abdul-Ghani has become a bench player who saw very little playtime, so he retired and became the interim manager for 15 matches. Abdul-Ghani Shahad never represented Iraq at any level.[1]

Managerial career

Al Najaf

Abdul Ghani Shahad become the interim manager of Al Najaf in 1999, where he managed the team for 15 games, winning 7 games. Despite his impressive record, Abdul-Ghani was relegated to assistant manager, due to his inexperience.

Abdul Ghani Shahad's first full season in charge of Al Najaf was the 2002-03 season, which was cut short after 29 rounds due to the American Invasion of Iraq.[2] During the season Al Najaf only lost 3 matches, 2 of which were in the abandoned second half of the season, and were serious title contenders.

The following season was abandoned midway through because of the security situation in the country.[3]

The 2004/05 season was the first full season which was completed since the start of the Iraq War, Abdul-Ghani Shahad led Al Najaf to be second on the Euphrates Group, with only one loss.[4] In the Elite stage, Al Najaf finished second in their group, behind Al-Zawraa, and failed to qualify to the championship playoffs.[5]

The 2005/06 season was the standout season for Abdul Ghani Shahad and Al Najaf. Abdul Ghani Shahad led the team to a second place finish in the Central Group A, which meant the qualified to the Elite stage for the second season running.[6] In the Elite stage, Al Najaf managed to finish first in their group and qualifying to the championship playoff,[7] they beat Erbil in the semifinal 5-2 on aggregate.[8] The final against Al-Zawraa was played in Sulaymaniyah on June 24, 2006, the match went to penalties scoreless. Uday Omran and Jassib Sultan missed their penalties as Al-Najaf lost, 4–3, on penalties.[9] Despite the loss, it was still Al Najaf's best result in over a decade. Finishing second also meant that Al Najaf qualified to the AFC Champions League for the first time ever.[10]

The following season, Al Najaf finished 3rd in their group and were eliminated from the AFC Champions League.[11] Meanwhile in the league, Al Najaf once again reached the playoff contention, however they lost to Erbil SC in the semi final, while they beat Al-Talaba SC in the third place playoff, and qualified to the Arab Champions League.[12]

In the 2007/08 season, Al Najaf once again made the playoffs[13] but failed to reach the semi final.[14] They were also eliminated from the Arab Champions League in the second round.[15]

Following the end of the season, Abdul-Ghani got an offer from giants Al-Talaba SC which he took.[16]

Al Talaba

Under Abdul Ghani, Al Talaba failed to qualify to the playoffs in the 2008/09 season after finishing 3rd in group B, 3 points behind second place Al Amana.[17] The performance was deemed unsatisfactory and he was subsequently relieved of his duties as manager of Al Talaba.[18]

Karbala

Following his sacking, Abdul Ghani signed for Karbala on the 15th of June 2009.[19] He led the time to finish 4th in group B, an impressive jump from 11th position in the season prior.[20] Karbala were eliminated in the Elite stage after finishing third behind Duhok SC and Al Quwa Al Jawiya.[21] Following his impressive stint with Karbala, Abdul Ghani returned to Al Najaf.

Return to Al Najaf

Following the 2009/10 season, Abdul-Ghani returned once again to his boyhood club Al Najaf. His first season ended on a disappointing note after Al Najaf finished in 6th place and were 18 points behind playoff contention.[22] Despite the undesirable results, Al Najaf decided to keep faith with their man, the following season saw the league return to a Round-robin tournament.[23] The league ended with Al Najaf finishing in 9th place. The 12/13 season also finished with Al Najaf in 9th place.[24] Following that season, Abdul-Ghani moved to a new team founded in Al-Najaf playing in the second division named Naft Al-Wasat.

Naft Al Wasat

Abdul-Ghani Shahad took a gamble and signed for second division side Naft Al Wasat in August 2013.[25] He took them on a historic campaign, finishing first in all three stages undefeated.[26][27][28] A total of twenty-five games without a loss meant that the team would be promoted to the Iraqi Premier League.[29]

The following season Abdul Ghani Shahad led the team to its first ever season in the top flight. They achieved an amazing feat by qualifying to the Elite stage.[30] They went on to qualify to the final to face Al Quwa Al Jawiya [31] They game was played in Al-Shaab Stadium in front of a sold out crowd and the game went to penalties, where Naft Al Wasat ended up winning the match due to the heroics of Noor Sabri saving 3 penalties.[32]

Iraq U23

In 2015, Shahad was appointed as the manager of the Iraqi U23 team, replacing Yahya Alwan.[33] His first tournament in charge was the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship, in which Iraq finished third, after defeating Qatar in extra time.[34] The bronze medal meant that Iraq also qualified to the 2016 Summer Olympics.[35]

In the Olympic games, Shahad was applauded by fans and pundits for his defensive formations that led to a 0-0 draw with heavyweights Brazil.[36] However, Iraq failed to qualify from the group after finishing in 3rd place with 3 points from 3 games.[37]

Under his management, Iraq qualified to the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship by winning all three games in their qualification group.[38] They were knocked out of the quarterfinals of the competition, following a defeat in penalty kicks against Vietnam.

Iraq National Team

Following the 2-2 draw vs Thailand,[39] Yahya Alwan resigned as manager of the national side,[40] Abdul-Ghani was brought on as an interim coach.[41] He only managed one game, which he won against Vietnam.[42] His win meant that he is one of only two Iraqi managers in recent times with a 100% win record, alongside Nadhum Shaker.

Return to Naft Al Wasat

In July 2016, Naft Al Wasat reached an agreement with Abdul-Ghani to manage both the club and the U23 side simultaneously.[43] However he left before the end of the season due to his obligations to the Iraqi U23 side.[44]

Statistics

Managerial

As of 29 July 2018
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Al-Najaf Iraq 1999 1999 15 7 5 3 046.67
Al-Najaf Iraq August 2002 July 2008 122 74 27 21 060.66
Al-Talaba Iraq August 2008 May 2009 20 13 4 3 065.00
Karbala Iraq June 2009 March 2010 12 6 4 2 050.00
Najaf Iraq March 2010 February 2013 128 48 40 40 037.50
Naft Al-Wasat Iraq August 2013 August 2015 50 31 13 6 062.00
Iraq U23 Iraq August 2015 present 29 18 8 3 062.07
Iraq Iraq March 2016 March 2016 1 1 0 0 100.00
Naft Al-Wasat Iraq July 2016 March 2017 19 12 5 2 063.16
Najaf Iraq January 2018 present 1 1 0 0 100.00
Total 255 128 72 55 050.20

Honours

As player

As manager

Iraq U-23

References

  1. ^ "Iraq - Record International Players". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  2. ^ "الدوري العراقي الممتاز". Kooora.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  3. ^ "Iraq 2003/04". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  4. ^ "Iraqi League 2004-2005 : Groups)". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  5. ^ "Iraq 2004/05". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  6. ^ "Iraqi League 2005/2006 : Groups". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  7. ^ "Iraqi League 2005/2006 : Final stage (elite stage)". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  8. ^ "Iraqi League 2005/2006 : Semifinals". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  9. ^ "Iraqi League 2005/2006 : Final". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  10. ^ "الدوري الممتاز العراقي: النوارس تحصد اللقب الحادي عشر على حساب غزلان البادية". Kooora.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  11. ^ Saaid, Hamdan; Stokkermans, Karel (17 March 2016). "Asian Club Competitions 2007". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  12. ^ "Iraqi League 2006/2007 : Groups". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  13. ^ "Iraqi League 2007/2008 : Play off". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  14. ^ "Iraqi League 2007/2008 : Groups)". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  15. ^ "Arab Champions' League 2007/08". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  16. ^ "شهد مدرباً لفريق الطلبة العراقي". Elaph.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  17. ^ "Iraqi League 2008/2009 : Groups)". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  18. ^ "مدربان جديدان يقودان لكربلاء والميناء". Kooora.com. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  19. ^ "عبد الغني شهد مدربا لنادي كربلاء". وكالة نون الخبرية. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  20. ^ "Iraqi League 2009/2010 : Group Stage". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  21. ^ "Iraqi League 2009/2010 : Elite Stage". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  22. ^ "{title}". Archived from the original on 2017-07-31. Retrieved 2018-09-30. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "Iraqi Elite League - Asiacell 2011/2012 : League". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  24. ^ "Summary - Iraqi League - Iraq - Results, fixtures, tables and news". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  25. ^ "اخر تعاقدات نادي نفط الوسط". Dorar-aliraq.net. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  26. ^ "Iraqi First Division League 2013-2014 : Group stage". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  27. ^ "Iraqi First Division League 2013-2014 : Elite stage". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  28. ^ "Iraqi First Division League 2013-2014 : Final stage". Goalzz.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  29. ^ "نفط الوسط يبدأ تدريباته والمدرب يعتبر تأجيل الدوري خدم الفرق المتأهلة - رياضة". Alsumaria.tv. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  30. ^ "مدرب نفط الوسط يعتبر تأهل فريقه لنهائيات الدوري الممتاز إنجازا فريدا - رياضة". Alsumaria.tv. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  31. ^ "اليوم.. نهائي الممتاز بين الجوية ونفط الوسط". Newsabah.com. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  32. ^ "نفط الوسط يطيح بالقوة الجوية ويتوج بلقب الدوري العراقي". Kooora.com. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  33. ^ "عبد الغني شهد مدرباً للمنتخب الأولمبي - قناة الفلوجة". Alfallujah.tv. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  34. ^ "AFC U-23 CHAMPIONSHIP 2016". The-afc.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  35. ^ "Iraq hail momentous occasion after sealing Olympics berth - AFC". The-afc.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  36. ^ "Neymar and Brazil held scoreless in Olympic soccer". Sbnation.com. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  37. ^ "How they rated? Breaking down Iraq's performance player by player at Rio 2016". Socceriraq.net. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  38. ^ "AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers: Iraq through to finals". The-afc.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  39. ^ "Iraq vs. Thailand - Football Match Report - March 24, 2016 - ESPN". ESPNFC.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  40. ^ "Iraq head coach resigns after Thailand draw". Footballchannel.asia. 26 March 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  41. ^ "Shahad: The pressure was huge". Fifa.com. 3 April 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  42. ^ "World Cup (Sky Sports)". SkySports. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  43. ^ "عبد الغني شهد مدربا لنفط الوسط العراقي". Kooora.com. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  44. ^ "نفط الوسط يكشف موعد تحديد خليفة شهد". Kooora.com. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
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