Emad Mohammed

Emad Mohammed Ridha (Arabic: عماد محمد رضا‎, born 24 July 1982) is a coach and former Iraqi football striker.

Emad Mohammed
Personal information
Full name Emad Mohammed Reza
Date of birth (1982-07-24) 24 July 1982
Place of birth Karbala, Iraq
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Center Forward, Second Striker, Winger
Youth career
1992–1998 Karbalaa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2002 Al-Zawraa
2002 Al-Ittihad
2002–2003 Al-Zawraa
2003–2004 Al-Ittihad 18 (7)
2004–2005 Al-Wakrah 30 (11)
2005–2006 Foolad 14 (8)
2006–2010 Sepahan 104 (50)
2010–2011 Zamalek 2 (0)
2011 → Shahin Bushehr (loan) 11 (3)
2011–2012 Sepahan 22 (9)
2012–2014 Al-Zawraa 30 (15)
National team‡
2000–2012 Iraq 103 (27)
Teams managed
2014–2015 Al-Zawraa
2015–2016 Al-Najaf
2016–2017 Al-Najaf
2018 Naft Al-Wasat
2019– Iraq U17
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 March 2014
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 October 2013

Playing career

At first glance, Emad Mohammed does not appear to have the physical prowess to which young, aspiring strikers often aspire. However, that has not stopped the diminutive forward giving nightmares to opposition defenders. Small but stocky, blessed with lightning pace and an eye for goal, Mohammed is the epitome of the traditional Asian striker, relying on agility and intelligence more than physical stature.

As a youth, Mohammed was inspired by his eldest brother, Khaled, who played for a local club. But it was Emad who quickly proved to be the family's greatest footballing talent. Indeed, by the age of 15, he has already been brought into the Iraq U-16 national team by coach Adnan Hamad.

Under the tutelage of Hamad, Mohammed developed quickly and eventually graduated to the national U-19 side. The Karbala-born striking prodigy impressed throughout the AFC Youth Championship 2000, scoring four times, including twice in the final against Japan as Iraq won the Asian title.

He was surprisingly brought into the 24-man 2000 Asian Cup squad a few weeks before the finals in Lebanon after scoring two goals in 4 games for the Iraqi B team in a tournament in Indonesia and also scoring 2 goals to help a weakened Al-Zawraa team to beat Emirates club Al-Ain 2-1 in the first round of the 2000 Asian Club Championship. He broke into the Al-Zawraa's first team during season 1998-1999 and was voted Iraqi Leagues’ young player of the year and striker of the year for 2000. He went on to make his full international debut on January 31, 2000 against Lebanon in Beirut in a 0-0 draw.[1]

In 2001, he was offered a transfer contract to Italian giants AC Milan but was denied by son of Iraqi president back then Uday Saddam Hussein; who was the president of the Iraqi FA.

Mohammed's meteoric rise to fame soon earned him a lucrative contract with Qatari giants Al-Gharrafa. Then, in 2005, he signed a deal with Iranian club Foolad before joining giants Sepahan just a year later.

Having thrived at continental level, Mohammed also showed himself to be capable of making an impact on the global stage when he played a key role in Iraq's fairy tale run to the semi-finals at the Olympic Football Tournament Athens 2004. After opening his account in the opening 4-2 victory over Portugal a result which helped pave the way to the last eight, the striker further showcased his predatory instincts in the quarter-final match against Australia, where he scored the only goal with a spectacular bicycle-kick.

Although he did not feature in the Iraq squad that won the AFC Asian Cup in 2007, Mohammed did make his presence felt that same year at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, scoring two goals in the opening four minutes in Sepahan's 3-1 win over Waitakere United.

He was left out of Iraq's opening 1-1 draw with China in Asia's third round of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, but has reclaimed his regular place in the five subsequent outings. The talented hitman duly proved his worth with two goals, again haunting Australia by netting the only goal before going on to score the equaliser in Iraq's 2-1 away win against China.

Mohammed's 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa dream was brought to an abrupt end when Iraq failed to reach Asia's final qualifying round after their loss to Qatar last June. Yet disappointed as he was, with the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009 just around the corner, the Iraqi marksman has a fresh chance to showcase his talent to the world.

On 25 June 2007, Emad renewed his contract with Sepahan for another season in a deal thought to be worth in the region of $600,000.[2]

He had a good season with Sepahan in Persian Gulf Cup 2006-07 where he was the top scorer for Sepahan in the league and ACL. In Persian Gulf Cup 2009-10, he had perhaps his best season thus far in his career, scoring 19 goals and becoming the top goal scorer for the season and the champion of the Iran Pro League with Sepahan.

On 17 June 2010, Emad arrived in Cairo and signed an unannounced-value three-year-contract with Egyptian giants Zamalek SC in a mammoth deal after refusing his previous Iranian club and Al Ahly temptations.

Managerial career

Start with Al-Zawraa

Emad Mohammed started his managerial career with hometown club Al-Zawraa. He retired from his playing career mid-season in 2014 to take over from Jamal Ali.[3] The young manager did well in the regular season, finishing second in group A, level on points with Al Jawiya. However, Al Zawra’a massively underperformed in the playoffs, finishing dead last in group 1. Al Zawra’a decided not to extend his contract for the following season.[4]

Al Najaf

Emad took over 7 games into the next season from the resigning Ali Wahab.[5] The team ended up finishing 7th in group B, easily avoiding relegation.[6] Emad was rehired the following season, replacing his replacement, Hatif Shamran.[7] Al Najaf finished in 9th place overall, with 49 points. The team was knocked out in the round of 16 of the Iraqi FA Cup due to the team forfeiting their match against Amanat Baghdad. Al Najaf chose not to renew his contract once again.

Naft Al Wasat

Emad was appointed as manager of Naft Al Wasat on February 5, 2018 to replace Adil Nima.[8] Prior to that, he rejected working for Al Talaba, due to the poor administrative state.[9] He was sacked 7 rounds before the end of the season.[10] A picture on the internet went viral the day of his sacking, a conversation between him and Al Zawraa player Ali Rehema, agreeing to fix the match for the latter. The picture turned out to be a hoax.[11]

Statistics

International goals
Scores and results list the Iraq' goal tally first.[12]

Managerial statistics
As of 23 September 2019
Team From To Record
GWDLWin %
Al-Zawraa 6 October 2014 30 June 2015 22 9 5 8 040.91
Al-Najaf 29 October 2015 3 March 2016 11 4 1 6 036.36
Al-Najaf 1 October 2016 10 August 2017 34 12 12 10 035.29
Naft Al-Wasat 7 February 2018 4 June 2018 16 4 9 3 025.00
Iraq U17 5 March 2019 present 7 3 2 2 042.86
Total 86 31 27 28 036.05

Honours

Country

Club
Runner Up (1): 2007 with Sepahan

Individual

Notes
  1. Hassanin Mubarak. "Player Database". iraqsport.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2003.
  2. "Emad renews contract with Sepahan" عماد محمد يجدد تعاقده مع أصفهان. aljazeerasport.net. Archived from the original on 25 June 2007. Retrieved 25 June 2007.
  3. نادي الزوراء ادارة الزوراء تسمي عماد محمد مدربا لفريقها خلفا لجمال علي بعد فسخ عقده بالتراضي [Al-Zawra Club: Al-Zawra has named Emad Mohammed as coach for Jamal Ali after his contract was terminated by mutual consent]. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  4. "ادارة الزوراء تقرر عدم التجديد للمدرب عماد محمد وتشكل لجنة لاختيار مدرب جديد". Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  5. عماد محمد مدرباً لفريق النجف خلفاً للمستقيل علي وهاب [Emad Mohammed is a coach of the Najaf team, succeeding the resignation of Ali Wahab]. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  6. "Iraqi PL Table 15/16". Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  7. عماد محمد مدربا للنجف واليوم أول وحدة تدريبية بقيادته [Emad Mohamed is Najaf's coach and today his team have their first training under his leadership]. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  8. عماد محمد مدربا لنفط الوسط [Emad Mohamed is Naft's coach]. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. "عماد محمد مدربا لنفط الوسط". 14 January 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  10. نفط الوسط يقيل المدرب عماد محمد والكادر المساعد له [Emad Mohammed sacked]. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  11. نفط الوسط: المحادثات بين عماد محمد ورحيمة "مفتعلة" ولا صحة لها [Emad conversation is fake]. 5 June 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  12. Roberto Mamrud & Hassanin Mubarak. "Emad Mohammed Ridha Gharib - Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Arash Borhani		 Persian Gulf Cup top scorer
2009–10		 Succeeded by
Reza Norouzi
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