Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Baghdad: Iraq U-23 coach Yahya Alwan has taken over the managerial reins of the senior team ahead of the Lions of Mesopotamia’s 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifying campaign, Iraq Football Federation (IFF) President Abdulkhaliq Masoud Ahmad confirmed in an AFP article.
Alwan (pictured) fills the position after former Qatar national team boss Dzemal Hadziabdic had an 11th hour change of mind in accepting the appointment, with the Bosnian set to be unveiled as the new Iraq manager at a media conference on Sunday.
A veteran of a number of Iraq’s top clubs including Al Zawra’a, who he led to the Round of 16 in the 2009 AFC Cup, Alwan is embarking on his second stint as Iraq head coach having been at the helm of the senior side from November 1996 to June 1997.
Top of the agenda for Alwan, who successfully qualified defending champions Iraq to the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship, is preparing the 2007 continental champions for the start of their 2018 FIFA World Cup/UAE 2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifying campaign.
Iraq, fourth-place finishers at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup under Rahdi Shenaishil, who returned to Qatar Sports Club following the tournament in Australia, kick-off their campaign against Chinese Taipei in Tehran on September 3 before travelling to Bangkok to take on ASEAN champions Thailand five days later.
The Thais currently top four-team Group F with two victories while Vietnam and Chinese Taipei are yet to get off the mark having lost their qualifying openers to Thailand.
The group winners and four best runners-up will advance to the 2019 Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots in the 24-team 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals.
Photo: AFP