The team is in the Arab Cup to participate… not to compete

The official spokesman for the Iraqi Football Association, Salam Al-Manasir, revealed that 13 players will be absent from the “Mesopotamia Lions” squad during their participation in the Arab Cup tournament hosted by Qatar during the period from the first to the 18th of next December.

Al-Manasir told “Emirates Al-Youm”: “The Iraqi national team will not raise the slogan of competing for the title in this edition, but rather to participate and give the opportunity to a number of new players or those who have not previously participated, to stand up to their technical levels,” noting that “the ultimate goal is to prepare for the global supplement scheduled for March of next year.”

Regarding his expectations regarding the winner of the tournament, he said: “It is very difficult because of the strength of the participating teams, especially the Arab African teams, which are the most prominent candidates, in addition to the UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, which will have an important role in the competition.”

Al-Manasir said: “The coach of the Iraqi national team, Australian Graham Arnold, decided to use players from the Iraqi Stars League, in addition to only two players from the European leagues, namely Swedish league players Marco Faraj and Ammar Mohsen. We will not participate with the same members of the team that is competing in the Asian playoff and the UAE matches, due to injuries, in addition to calling up a number of players to the Olympic team participating in the U-23 Gulf Cup next January, and then the Asian Olympic Team Championship.”

He continued: “Muhannad Ali, a player for the Emirati club Dibba, and Ali Jassim, a player for the Saudi Al-Najma club, will be present with the Iraqi national team, while from the local league, Maitham Jabbar, Ahmed Makkenzi, Karar Nabil, Zaid Ismail, Amjad Atwan, Muhammad Jawad Nafoura, Hussein Ali, and others will participate.”

He added: “The draw placed the Mesopotamia Lions team in a strong group that includes Algeria, the champion of the last edition, and Bahrain and Sudan, all of which are teams with great strength. Therefore, we will enter the tournament with the slogan of participation and not competition, with a parallel goal of qualifying a number of players returning from injury, including Ayman Hussein, to restore match sensitivity.”

Regarding the player Ali Al Hammadi, Al Manaseer confirmed that he is currently continuing treatment, noting that there is continuous communication with the player and his club, Luton Town, to speed up his recovery period, hoping that he will be ready before the global playoff matches.

He continued: “We have a previous experience after Gulf 25, when the national team raised the slogan of winning Gulf 26 in Kuwait, but it appeared frustrating due to the psychological pressure that accompanied that participation, and it was reflected in its matches against Kuwait and Palestine in the World Cup qualifiers, which led to the loss of valuable and easy points.”