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The media photographer Muhanned al attabi
Iraqi coach Talib Jaloub has criticized Iraq coach Jesus Casas and revealed some serious facts about the participation of the “Lions of Mesopotamia” with him in the Gulf Cup “Gulf 26” in Kuwait, stressing that the Spanish coach is not fit to coach the Iraqi national team.
The Iraqi national team left the “Gulf 26” in Kuwait after losing to its Saudi counterpart 3-1 in the match that brought the two teams together at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in the third round of the tournament.
The Iraqi national team to the unknown
Jalloub said, “The Iraqi national team presented one of the worst tournaments in its history, as the team suffered greatly against Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and defeated Yemen with great difficulty, and this warns that the team’s position is declining and must be stopped and not overlooked because the Iraqi team did not appear with a specific identity and did not present a performance befitting the name and status of Iraqi football, which has always produced the most prominent players over the years.”
He added: “It is necessary to change coach Jesus Casas after the end of the Gulf 26 competitions, because Iraq is going with him into the unknown, and the team may suffer a setback in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against the Palestinian and Jordanian national teams. The Spanish coach does not have enough experience and is an incapable coach who is unable to use his tools in the best possible way. In every loss, he justifies and talks about excuses for the absence of players and the short duration of the tournament.”
He added: “I am the first coach in Iraq to say that Casas is not fit to lead the Iraqi national team, and I revealed all his cards against Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The coach enjoyed immunity and fierce defense from the Iraqi fans, but after these poor levels, today there is a consensus that the coach is not good and cannot provide anything to the Iraqi national team and the team will not develop under his leadership.”
He continued: “There are many comments on Casas, including that he summoned players to market them in the tournament, and this is a shameful matter for Iraqi football. The Iraqi team represents the country’s reputation and it is necessary to address it and appear in the best possible way; but unfortunately Casas has distorted the features of the beautiful image of Iraqi football.”
He added: “Casas lost the style of play that he used to apply in some matches, and submitted to the players’ style, which is long play and direct balls from defense to attack. If we compare Casas to the coach of Saudi Arabia or Bahrain, you will see the big difference in terms of performance. Iraqi football is not going through its best conditions and the reason is the Spanish technical staff,” according to winwin.
The Iraqi national team will face the Kuwaiti and Palestinian national teams in the seventh and eighth rounds of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in the United States, Canada and Mexico on March 20 and 25.
The media photographer Muhanned al attabi
The media photographer Muhanned al attabi
The media photographer Muhanned al attabi
Kylian Mbappe scored the opening goal as Real Madrid won the first edition of the new-look FIFA Intercontinental Cup. He struck in Lusail Stadium, the same ground in which he netted a hat-trick in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final for France. Madrid beat Mexican outfit Pachuca 3-0, with Brazilian duo Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior grabbing the second-half goals.
Real Madrid beat Pachuca 3-0 in Doha to seal FIFA Intercontinental Cup glory.
Pachuca started the game well. looking to get forward quickly and get at the Real Madrid defence. The Mexican outfit had a succession of early shots but nothing to really trouble goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Real Madrid showed their class after 37 minutes, scoring with their first shot on target of the match. Vinicius Junior latched onto a brilliant pass from Jude Bellingham before taking the ball around Carlos Moreno and unselfishly sliding the ball across to Kylian Mbappe, who was able to tap home into an empty net from close range.
The media photographer Muhanned al attabi
The media photographer Muhanned al attabi
The media photographer Muhanned al attabi
The media photographer Muhanned al attabi
Iraq beat Palestine 1-0 in the third round of Group B of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on Thursday.
Iraq’s tally rose to 7 points from 3 matches, just behind group leaders South Korea, while Jordan’s tally froze at 4 points in third place. Oman climbed to fourth place with 3 points, one point ahead of Kuwait and one point behind Jordan, while Palestine is at the bottom of the group with one point.
Ayman Hussein scored the only goal of the match after intercepting the ball from Palestinian defender Samer Jundi and firing the ball with his left foot into the net in the narrow corner to the left of goalkeeper Tawfiq Ali 31.
The media photographer Muhanned al attabi
The media photographer Muhanned al attabi
The media photographer Muhanned al attabi
The media photographer Muhanned al attabi
The national team intensified its training units, by undergoing its fourth training session in its camp held in Doha on Wednesday evening, which was hosted by the Qatar University stadiums. Today’s training, which was attended by the head of the Iraqi delegation, Younis Mahmoud, the second vice president of the federation and member of the Iraqi federation, Ahmed Al-Moussawi, was attended by 21 players, including: Jalal Hassan, Ali Kazim, Hussein Hassan, Mohammed Qasim, Ahmed Yahya, Mohammed Al-Taie, Saad Natiq, Bashang Abdullah, Zaid Tahseen, Hiran Ahmed, Muhannad Ali, Rebin Sulaka, Hassan Abdul Karim, Louay Al-Ani, Amjad Atwan, Manaf Younis, Akam Hashim, Osama Rashid, Ahmed McKenzie, Safaa Hadi, and Mustafa Saadoun. Today’s training was preceded by a technical video lecture by the national team coach, Jesus Casas, during which he discussed studying the competitor from different aspects in order to mentally prepare the players before the training session and apply its components accurately to prepare before facing the Omani national team on September 5th in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. In a related context, our national team will play a friendly training match against the Qatari Al-Waab Club next Saturday, the time of which will be determined later, based on the request of the national team coach to secure it before the end of the current camp, and then head to Basra on September 2nd.
The media photographer Muhanned al attabi
The Ruler ali jabar
Football referees camp in Diwaniyah for all first and second-class referees, with direct support from the Governor of Diwaniyah, Mr. Abbas Al-Zamili, Dr. Jaafar Al-Zamili, Director of the Governor’s Follow-up Office, Mr. Muhannad Al-Hasani, Assistant Assistant, the Sub-Federation of Football in Diwaniyah, the Directorate of Youth and Sports in Diwaniyah, and with the efforts of the Sports Committee in the governorate. The delegation consisted of 33 members, headed by Mr. Mahdi Falih Musa, Chairman of the Governorate’s Referees Committee, and Ali Jabbar, a member of the Governorate’s Referees Committee, and under the supervision of international referee Dr. Wathiq Muhammad. The camp curriculum included two units daily, morning and evening. The theoretical lectures on the law of football and the latest amendments are given by the Asian resident, Mr. Kazim Awda, and after each lecture, a test is given in each subject. The former international referee, Mr. Arslan Qader, also participated in a lecture on sports injuries and how to treat them. At five o’clock in the afternoon, practical training and physical fitness will be held at the Aso Club stadium, led by international referee Dr. Wathiq Muhammad. We hope This camp will have positive results for all our dear referees before entering the central tests scheduled to be held at the beginning of next month in Baghdad by the Central Referees Committee.
The media photographer Muhanned al attabi
