Place of birth Baghdad, Iraq Name Ahmed Radhi Years Team Role Football player | 1982–1984 Al-Zawraa Height 1.86 m 1984–1990 Al-Rasheed | |
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Full name Ahmed Radhi Hmaiesh Al-Salihi Date of birth (1964-04-21) April 21, 1964 (age 51) | ||
Ahmed radhi goals
Ahmed Radhi Amaiesh Al-Salehi (Arabic: أحمد راضي هميش الصالحي, born on 21 March 1964 in Baghdad, Iraq, but originally from Basra) is a former Iraqi footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as Iraq's best player of all-time, Radhi scored the only Iraqi goal in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, a low shot to the corner of the net against Belgium in the 2–1 defeat. He was voted the 1988 Asian Footballer of the Year.
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Career
Ahmed Radhi was perhaps one of the most outstanding Iraqi goalscorers of his generation.
He was a striker capable of scoring any kind of goal whether a volley from 35 yards, a free-kick or an easy tap-in. He starred at the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico, scoring Iraq’s first & only goal in the World Cup in a 2–1 defeat against Belgium, he was also denied a goal in Iraq’s first World Cup game against Paraguay when the referee blew his whistle a split-second before his header crossed the line.
After the finals, his club Al-Rasheed were offered $1m by Uruguayan giants Nacional for their star player, but it was quickly rejected. With Al-Rasheed, he won 3 Iraqi league and two cup titles and a record three Arab Club Championships.
With Iraq he won 2 Arab Cups, 1 Pan-Arab Games & a Gulf Cup, while he also represented Iraq in the Olympics in 1988. In 1988, was voted Asian player of the year and 9th best Asian player of the century in 1999.
Radhi's international career came to a bitter end in 1997; when he failed to save Iraq from a shocking first-round elimination in the 1998 World Cup Asian qualifiers. Two years later, Radhi ended his career as a footballer in 1999, after he led local side Al-Zawra'a to another league title. He became manager of Al-Shorta and led them to win the Umm Al Ma'arik Cup in 2000 by beating his former club Al-Zawraa in the final. He had the opportunity to sign Younis Mahmoud for Al-Shorta but he turned him down after he had a trial. He also managed Al-Zawraa from 2002 to 2003.
In October 2007, he was nominated by the opposition Iraqi Accord Front to the Council of Representatives of Iraq, replacing Abd al-Nasir al-Janabi, who had resigned to join the insurgency.