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Personal information | |||
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Full name | Hussein Saeed Mohammed | ||
Date of birth | 21 January 1958 | ||
Place of birth | Baghdad, Iraq | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
Playing position | Forward | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
1975–1990 | Al Talaba | (141) | |
National team | |||
1975–1977 | Iraq U-20 | (25) | |
1978-1979 | Iraq Military | 5 | (4) |
1977–1990 | Iraq | 126 | (61) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
Hussein Saeed Mohammed (Arabic: حسين سعيد محمد , born 21 January 1958 in Baghdad) is a former Iraqi footballer who played as a forward for the Iraqi Premier League club Al Talaba and the Iraqi national team. Saeed is in the 14th place in the list of top international association goal scorers at 61 goals. He was also in the Iraq's golden team of 1986.[1] He is the Iraqi player of the 20th century along with Ahmed Radhi.[2] He is also in 25th place in Asia's Best Players of the Century list.[3]
Saeed started his football path in the age of 17, when he was in the Iraqi national school football team.[4] He joined Al Talaba where he spent all of his 14 years old career.
On 24 April 1987, Saeed broke the record of Falah Hassan of the most capped player with 110 caps.[5] Hussein is currently the most capped player in the Iraq national football team from his debut in 1977 until his retirement in 1990 with 126 caps. He is also the most scoring player of the national team with 61 goals.
Contents
Club career
Al Talaba
Saeed joined his first and only club when he was 17 in 1975. His first professional match with Al Talaba was in the Iraqi Premier League against Al Shorta, which ended in a 3-0 win for Al Talaba. He scored his first goal with Al Talaba in his second match against Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, where Al Talaba won with Saeed's only goal.[4] Saeed played with Al Talaba, while most of the other national team players played for Al Rasheed, mostly because that club was owned by Uday Hussein.[1]
Saeed was the top scorer of the 1980–81 Iraqi Premier League, where his team won the league, at 11 goals, above Ali Hussein Mahmoud of Al Shorta at 9 goals.[6] He was also the top scorer of the 1982–83 Iraqi Premier League, where Salahaddin FC won the league, at 17 goals, above his teammate, Rahim Hameed, at 9 goals.[7] Saeed was the top scorer of his team's third winning league, 1985–86 Iraqi Premier League, along with Ahmed Radhi of Al Rasheed and Rahim Hameed, after he transferred to Al-Jaish FC, at 9 goals.[8] Saeed is the most scoring player in Al Talaba at 141 goals.[9]
Saeed led his club to win the 1980–81, 1981–82 and 1985–86 editions of the Iraqi Premier League.[10] Saeed also led his club to finish in 4th place in the Asian Club Championship 1987.[11]
International career
After being discovered by the legend Ammo Baba, Saeed made his debut in the main national team in September 1976 against Saudi Arabia in a match that is not recognized by FIFA as an "A" class international match.[5] His FIFA recognized debut was on 17 July 1977, against Thailand. He first started his national fame with the Iraq national under-20 football team, where he did pretty well in the 1975 AFC Youth Championship, where Iraq shared the title with Iran, after they had a goalless draw in the final.[12] He was the top scorer of the 1976 AFC Youth Championship at 7 goals. Iraq won the 1977 AFC Youth Championship, where Saeed scored the winning goal in the last minutes, against Iran in the 4-3 victory, at the final.[13] Saeed became the top scorer of the 1977 edition at 9 goals.[14] If it wasn't for Iraq's non-recognized matches, Saeed's national record would be at 153 apps and 71 goals.[5]
1978 Asian Games
One of Saeed's first senior competitions was the 1978 Asian Games. His first appearance was in Iraq's first match against Qatar, which ended in a 2-1 victory for Iraq. Saeed scored a goal in the 2-0 victory over China in Iraq's second game. In the third game, Iraq had a 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabia, to finish first in the preliminary round. In the semifinals, Iraq lost against North Korea with a single goal, had a 3-0 win over Kuwait, in which, Saeed scored a goal and an other 3-0 win against India, in which, Saeed also scored a goal. Iraq lost in the Bronze medal game with China by a single goal.[15]
1979 World Military Cup
Saeed helped Iraq in winning the 1979 World Men's Military Cup in Damascus. Saeed appeared in every game. He scored a goal against Australia in an easy 4-0 victory. He scored a goal against Bahrain in a big 5-0 win. He scored in Iraq's semifinal match with Kuwait in a 2-0 victory.[16] The final match between Iraq and Italy ended in a goalless draw, which led to penalties. Saeed scored his penalty kick and Iraq won 4-3.[17]
Gulf Cup
On 23 March 1979, Saeed made his first appearance in the 1979 Gulf Cup against Bahrain, where he scored his first hat-trick.[18] While Iraq won the 1979, 1984 and 1988 editions, Saeed has appeared in 1979, 1982, 1984 and 1990. He scored a total of 22 goals in the Gulf Cup, and appeared in a total of 21 matches.[5]
1979
Being led by Ammo Baba, Iraq achieved their first Gulf Cup in the 1979 edition in Baghdad, breaking the Kuwaiti streak of winning the cup since the 1970 Gulf Cup. Saeed wore the number 11 for this tournament. He scored a hat-trick in the opening match against Bahrain in Iraq's 4-0 victory.[18] He scored the two only goals against Qatar.[19] He scored in the 66 minute against the United Arab Emirates as Iraq won 5-0.[20] Saeed scored 4 goals against Oman in Iraq's big 7-0 victory.[21] Iraq won the cup, after winning 2-0 over Saudi Arabia in their last match, winning every single game they played. At this tournament, Saeed became the top scorer at 10 goals, becoming the all-time top scorer of the Gulf Cup.[22]
1982
Saeed played for Iraq in the 1982 Gulf Cup in Abu Dhabi. Iraq performed pretty good in this tournament. They have beaten Oman, in which, Saeed scored a goal, in a 4-0 win. Saeed scored two goals in a 3-0 win over Bahrain, he scored in a 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabia, Iraq has beaten Qatar in a 2-1 victory and finally, Saeed scored the only goal against United Arab Emirates.[23] However, all of these results and goals were scratched because of Iraq's withdraw before their game against Kuwait.[24] Ammo Baba stated that the withdraw came by an order from Saddam Hussein. After Kuwait qualified to the 1982 FIFA World Cup, Iraq wanted Kuwait to get motivation of winning the Gulf Cup to reach the final stages of the World Cup.[25]
1984
Iraq achieved their second Gulf Cup in the 1984 Gulf Cup in Muscat, with their ultimate coach, Ammo Baba. In Iraq's first match against Oman, Saeed scored the two Iraqi goals in a 2-1 victory.[26] The second match against United Arab Emirates, ended in a goalless draw.[27] In Iraq's third game against Saudi Arabia, Saeed scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 victory.[28] In the fourth match against Bahrain, Iraq had a 1-0 victory.[29] Saeed scored two goals in Iraq's fifth match against Kuwait in a 3-1 victory.[30] Iraq were a match away from winning the cup but, unfortunately, Iraq lost against Qatar in a 1-2 defeat.[31] Iraq and Qatar were equaled on points, so, they had to have a final decisive match. On 28 March, a final game between Iraq and Qatar was played. The two teams drew in the whole 90 minutes of the game. In the extra time, Iraq scored a goal, as well as Qatar. The game had to go to penalties. Iraq defeated Qatar in the penalties at 4-3.[32]
1990
Saeed did not appear in the 1986 Gulf Cup or the 1988 Gulf Cup. He returned to the tournament in the 1990 Gulf Cup in Kuwait. Iraq won their first game against Bahrain in a 1-0 victory, they drew their second game with Kuwait in a 1-1 draw, Iraq drew again in their third match against United Arab Emirates in a 2-2 draw.[33] Iraq withdrew from the tournament after the game with the UAE, complaining about the referee in the game.[34] Saeed didn't score any goals in this tournament.
1980 Summer Olympics
Saeed has scored 3 goals in the 1980 Summer Olympics qualifiers, in which, Iraq lost in the Asian Qualifying Tournament Group 1 playoff match against Kuwait. However, Iraq got qualified by replacing Malaysia.[35] In the 1980 Summer Olympics, Iraq reached the quarter final and was beaten by East Germany in a 4-0 loss, after they passed the group stage with a win over Costa Rica, in which, Saeed scored a goal, in a 3-0 victory,[36] a goalless draw with Finland[37] and a 1-1 draw against Yugoslavia.[38]
1982 Asian Games
Ammo Baba led Iraq to win their first ever football gold medal in the Asian Games in the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi. In Iraq's first match, Saeed scored a goal in an easy 4-0 victory over Burma. Saeed scored two goals in Iraq's second match against Nepal in a 3-0 victory. Iraq lost its third match with Kuwait in a 1-2 defeat. In the quarter final, Iraq won over Japan with a single goal in extra time. In the Semifinal, Iraq defeated Saudi Arabia with one goal. On 3 December, the final match was played between Iraq and Kuwait, where Saeed gained the gold medal for Iraq when he scored the winning goal in the 82 minute.[39]
1984 Summer Olympics
For the second time in the row, Iraq got qualified to the Summer Olympic Games in the 1984 Summer Olympics in the United States. Iraq finished last in the group stages, after they drew with Canada, in which, Saeed scored Iraq's only goal in the 83 minute, in a 1-1 draw.[40] In the second game, Iraq was defeated by Cameroon by an early goal from Paul Bahoken.[41] Iraq lost their last game against Yugoslavia in a 2-4 defeat, in which, Saeed scored Iraq's first goal.[42]
1986 FIFA World Cup
Iraq got qualified for the first time in their history to the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. Due to Saeed's injury, there was some speculations about him not being in Iraq's squad but, he did join the squad.[43] On 4 June, Saeed played in Iraq's first match against Paraguay, where they were defeated by a single goal scored by Julio César Romero in the 35 minute.[44] After the match, Iraq's head coach, Evaristo de Macedo, discontinued Saeed from the squad, due to his former injury, and sent him back to Baghdad. Iraq lost against Belgium in a 1-2 defeat, where Ahmed Radhi scored Iraq's first and only goal in the World Cup in the 59 minute.[45] They lost their third match against Mexico by a single goal scored by Fernando Quirarte.[46] Iraq, since 1986, did not qualify to the World Cup.
1986 Asian Games
Saeed joined the Iraqi team in the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul. In the group stages, Iraq won over Oman in a 4-0 victory. Iraq had a 5-1 win against Pakistan. Saeed scored Iraq's goal against United Arab Emirates in a 1-2 defeat. Iraq won against Thailand in a 2-1 victory, to qualify to the quarter finals. Iraq lost in the quarter final against Saudi Arabia, where they drew 1-1 until the penalties, where Iraq lost 8-9.[47]
1988 Summer Olympics
Saeed scored 4 goals in the qualifiers for the 1988 Summer Olympics in South Korea, where Iraq got qualified and failed to pass the group stages, after they drew with Zambia in a 2-2 draw, defeated Guatemala in a 3-0 victory and lost to Italy in a 0-2 defeat.[48]
Retirement
At the age of 32, Hussein Saeed decided to retire, due to continuous injuries. His last was on 3 March 1990, against the United Arab Emirates in the 1990 Gulf Cup.[2]
Positions and offices
Saeed was pointed in lots of grand offices:[49]
- Vice President of Al-Talaba (1985-1992)
- Director of the Office of Foreign Relations of the Iraqi Olympic Committee.
- Vice President of the Iraqi Olympic Committee. (2004-2008)
- Vice President of the Iraqi Football Association.
- Secretary of the Iraqi Football Association.
- President of the Iraqi Football Association. (2003-2011)
In 2003, Saeed became the president of the Iraqi Football Association, leading Iraq's football through 8 years, until he resigned in 13 June 2011. Later, in 2013, Saeed announced why he resigned, by saying: "I was threatened of being kidnapped."[50]
He was also a member of:[49]
- Fair Play Committee of the Asian Football Confederation.
- Executive Office of the Asian Football Confederation. (2002–present)
- Executive Office of the Union of Arab Football Associations. (2005-2009)
- Media Committee of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association. (2002–present)
Career statistics
International goals
- As of 3 March 1990[5]
Honours
Al Talaba
- Iraqi Premier League: 1980–81, 1981–82, 1985–86; Runner-up 1976–77, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1988–89
- Iraq FA Cup: Runner-up 1979-80, 1980-81, 1981-82
Iraq
- Asian Games Gold Medal: 1982
- AFC U-19 Championship: 1975, 1977
- Gulf Cup of Nations: 1979, 1984
- World Military Cup: 1979
Individual
- FIFA Century Club: 2005[51]
- Top Scorer of the Iraqi Premier League: 1980–81, 1982–83, 1985–86
- Top Scorer of the Gulf Cup: 1979, 1984
- Best Player of the Gulf Cup: 1984
References
- ^ a b Mubarak, Hassanin. "Hussein Saeed becomes member of FIFA’s Century Club". Iraqsport. Retrieved 3 July 2005.
- ^ a b "Hussein Saeed and the incredible achievement". Kooora (in Arabic). Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ^ "Asia's best Players of the Century". IFFHS. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
- ^ a b "The Human Tank, Hussein Saeed". Yahoo Maktoob (in Arabic). Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- ^ a b c d e "Hussein Saeed Mohammed - Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- ^ "Iraq 1980/81". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
- ^ "Iraq 1982/83". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
- ^ "Iraq 1985/86". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
- ^ Mahmoud Shakir, Shukri. "4". Iraqi Football in 100 years (in Arabic). Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ^ "Iraq - List of Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ^ "Asian Club Competitions 1987". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
- ^ "Asian U-19 Championship 1975". RSSSF. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ^ "Hussain Saeed: The pride of Iraq's lions". FIFA. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- ^ "Asian U-19 Championship 1977". RSSSF. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ^ "Asian Games 1978". RSSSF. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ "1979 CISM World Military Championship - Match Details Iraq". RSSSF. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ^ "World Military Championship". RSSSF. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ^ a b "Gulf Cup 1979 - Iraq vs. Bahrain". Gulf Cup (in Arabic). Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ^ "Gulf Cup 1979 - Iraq vs. Qatar". Gulf Cup (in Arabic). Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ^ "Gulf Cup 1979 - Iraq vs. UAE". Gulf Cup (in Arabic). Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ^ "Gulf Cup 1979 - Iraq vs. Oman". Gulf Cup (in Arabic). Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ^ "Top Scorers". Gulf Cup (in Arabic). Retrieved 28 September 2014.
- ^ "Gulf Cup 1982". RSSSF. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ^ "Gulf Cup 1982". Gulf Cup (in Arabic). Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ^ "Ammo Baba: A presidential message took away the Gulf Cup from Iraq". Karemlash4u (in Arabic). Retrieved 28 September 2014.
- ^ "Gulf Cup 1984 - Iraq vs. Oman". Gulf Cup (in Arabic). Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ "Gulf Cup 1984 - Iraq vs. UAE". Gulf Cup (in Arabic). Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ "Gulf Cup 1984 - Iraq vs. Saudi Arabia". Gulf Cup (in Arabic). Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ "Gulf Cup 1984 - Iraq vs. Bahrain". Gulf Cup (in Arabic). Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ "Gulf Cup 1984 - Iraq vs. Kuwait". Gulf Cup (in Arabic). Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ "Gulf Cup 1984 - Iraq vs. Qatar (1st)". Gulf Cup (in Arabic). Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ "Gulf Cup 1984 - Iraq vs. Qatar". Gulf Cup (in Arabic). Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ "Gulf Cup 1990". Gulf Cup (in Arabic). Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ "Arabian Gulf Cup: Iraq back in action after 14-year exile". Middle East Online. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ "Teams of Olympic Football Tournament Moscow 1980". FIFA. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ^ "Olympic Football Tournament Moscow 1980 - Iraq - Costa Rica". FIFA. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ^ "Olympic Football Tournament Moscow 1980 - Finland - Iraq". FIFA. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ "Olympic Football Tournament Moscow 1980 - Yugoslavia - Iraq". FIFA. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ "Asian Games 1982". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
- ^ "Olympic Football Tournament Los Angeles 1984 - Canada - Iraq". FIFA. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ "Olympic Football Tournament Los Angeles 1984 - Iraq - Cameroon". FIFA. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ "Olympic Football Tournament Los Angeles 1984 - Yugoslavia - Iraq". FIFA. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ "World Cup 1986 - Squads - Iraq". Planet World Cup. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ "1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico - Paraguay - Iraq". FIFA. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ "1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico - Belgium - Iraq". FIFA. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ "1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico - Mexico - Iraq". FIFA. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ "Asian Games 1986". RSSSF. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ "XXIV Olympiad Seoul 1988 Football Tournamen". RSSSF. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ a b "Hussein Saeed, The Iraqi Scoring Machine". FIFA (in Arabic). Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ "Hussein Saeed: They threatened me of being kidnapped and I quit to help Iraq". Al Kass (in Arabic). Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ "Hussein Saeed becomes member of FIFA’s Century Club". Al Iraqi. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
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