Younis Mahmoud

Younis Mahmoud
Personal information
Full name	Younis Mahmoud Khalef
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Al Gharafa;
Number	9

Younis Mahmoud Khalef (Template:Lang-ar; born February 3, 1983) is an Iraqi footballer who is a forward for Al Gharafa and captain of the Iraq national football team.

Career

Younis started out his sports career playing basketball for Al-Dibs Electric and later on joined the local amateur football team in Al-Dibs. He eventually joined the Al-Dibs FC first team in the 3rd division. He later on transferred to 2nd division side Kirkuk and led them to promotion with 19 goals. Iraqi League giants Al-Talaba quickly signed him up for the new 2001-2002 season where he scored in a 7-1 win over his former club on the opening day of the season. He quickly became a regular starter in the Talaba squad and was called up into the Iraqi U-19 squad; scoring 5 goals but also twice getting himself sent-off. At the beginning of 2002, Younis was in hot form having scored 6 goals on Talaba’s way to the Iraqi Cup, while also topping the goalscorer’s charts at the 11th Umm Al-Ma’arak Cup. In March 2002, while many were questioning his temperament and lack of experience, coach Adnan Hamad named Younis in his squad for Iraq’s training camp in Italy and gave him his first start against Serie B club Cagliari and later went on to score. A month after landing both the Iraqi league and cup, Younis made his first full international debut against Syria but failed to score; his first goal came in dramatic style as he netted in the 90th minute in the WAFF Championship final against Jordan to put the game into extra-time; where Haidar Mahmoud headed in the winner. His 6 goals at the Emir Abdullah Al-Faisal Cup including a hat-trick in the 5-1 win over Al-Nasr turned several heads; he earned even more praise with 7 goals in the 2004 Asian Cup qualifiers with four goals in a 5-1 drubbing of Bahrain. He signed for Al-Wahda in the UAE and was nominated for the 2003 AFC Young Player of the Year Award; he recently had a threat of a suspension hanging over his head after clashing with one of the coaching staff after the 1-1 draw with Palestine in March. This year Younis became the first Iraqi footballer to launch his own personal website at www.younismahmoud.com. The website became the first and is currently the only official website of an Iraqi football player. The website is the creation of Mohammed Ghazi Al-Khakani. He scored the winning and only goal in the 2007 AFC finals versus Saudi Arabia giving the Iraqis a one goal lead that eventually secured the Championship title for Iraq, their very first. It is said that Club America from Mexico is very interested in his services for the next season. [1]

First official website

AFC 2003 Young Player of the Year nominee Younis Mahmoud has become the first Iraqi footballer to have his own official website – which was formally launched on April 27th, 2004.

The boy from Al-Dibs in Kirkuk is considered one of Iraq’s most talented players and is currently the star of both the Olympic and national side.

"I am glad to say that the site will be the first ever official Iraqi player’s website" says webmaster Mohammed Ghazi Al-Khakani.

Al-Khakani, an Iraqi who studied at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, regularly visits his family in Abu Dhabi, where he was raised but the Christmas holiday 2003 proved to be a very different affair.

"I was driving my car and noticed from a distance someone wearing a jacket with the name IRAQ imprinted on it. This grabbed my attention so I stopped my car to take a closer look and recongnised that the person was Younis Mahmoud."

Since then the pair have become good friends and it was Al-Khakani who then came up with the idea of an official website for the player. Younis excited about the idea, agreed, giving his friend the green light to go ahead and work on his personal website.

The site is updated regularly and include a biographical profile on the player, with latest news, photos, videos, and the player’s views on upcoming matches and events.

Fans will also have the chance to have a one-on-one with him– where they can ask the player questions on his life and career.

"Inshallah (God willing) this will get me and my fans a huge step closer to each other" said Younis Mahmoud after the launch of the his site.

Interview conducted by Hasanian Mubarak.

Other honours (individual)

1997-1998

Best Player of the Year (In Iraqi Districts, "Muhafathat")

1998-1999

League Top scorer with 19 goals.

2000-2001

Youngest player to play for the Iraqi National team.

2002

Topscorer of 11th Umm Al-Ma’arak Cup

2003-2004

Top scorer in the Abha cup in Saudi Arabia with 5 goals.
AFC Young player of the Year Nominee.
Voted as one of the top 5 Arab players in 2003-2004.
Top scorer of the Asian cup first qualification round with 7 goals.
First Iraqi player to own a personal official website

4th place in the Olympics 2004 finals in Athens, Greece.
- He participated in 5 matches, scoring once against Portugal in the first round. ^[1]
Reached the Quarter Final of the Asian Cup 2004 in China.
Debut with Al-Khor club, Qatar.
Top Al-Khor goal scorer.
Scored fastest goal in the Qatari League.
Scored fastest goal in the Qatari Cup.
Top Goal scorer in the Qatari Cup.
Won the Qatari Cup with Al-Khor Club.

2005-2006

Winner of the 2005 West Asian cup held in Qatar.
Top goal scorer of the 2005 West Asian cup held in Qatar.
Top Al-Khor Club goal scorer.
Second top goal scorer in the Qatari league with 20 goals, one goal behind the top goal scorer.
Scored 6 goal in a Mutch and break record in the Qatar league

2006

Top scorer for Iraq during the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification (4 goals). He scored 2 goals against Palestine and also 2 against Singapore.

2006-2007

Nominated AFC Player of the Year 2006
Nominated Arab Player of the Year 2006
After two years of losing out the Qatari league top goal scorer award by a margin of one goal, Younis Mahmoud saw a happier ending to the Qatari league in his third year. Finally, and in a competition that lasted till the last minute of the Qatari league,

Younis Mahmoud snatched the Qatari league top goal scorer award. Younis was able to win the top goal scorer race against many foreign professional players and was able to add the top goal scorer award to his name this season.

AFC Asian Cup 2007

won the AFC Asian Cup MVP
shared the top scorers with Yasser Al-Qahtani and Naohiro Takahara with 4 goals

Famous matches

08 April 2005 Al-Khor 8-0 Al-Shamal (Scored 6 goals and broke record)
28 Dec 2006 Al-Garrafa 1-1 Al-Sadd (Scored in the 27th second)
06 Dec 2006 Malaysia 0-4 Iraq (Scored 2 goals in 1 minute)
21 July 2007 Vietnam 0-2 Iraq (Scored both goals, one of which being a free kick)
29 July 2007 Saudi Arabia 0-1 Iraq (Scored the only goal in the final of the Asian Cup)