Kurdistan national team ready for VIVA

[RodinRojhilat KURDISTAN]

Kurdistan national team ready for VIVA


The Kurdistan football team sings the national song during the opening
of the final match of the VIVA Championship in Italy in June 2009.
PRESS PHOTO
By Zakaria Muhammed
The Kurdish Globe

Europe's Malta awaits Kurdistan's top players

Most of Kurdistan's top footballers earn a spot on Kurdistan's
national team and a chance to win the Nelson Mandela trophy at VIVA.

For the upcoming VIVA matches (provincial championships), which will
be held in Gozo region in Malta in mid July, Abdullah Mahmud, the
coach of the Kurdistan football team, named 24 players to commence
training at camp on Wednesday.

"After several suggestions, the coaching staff of Kurdistan Football
Federation (KFF) decided to appoint Abdullah Mahmud as the Kurdistan
football team manager for the VIVA World Cup," said KFF secretary
Salam Hussein, remarking on Mahmud's great training experience in
Kurdistan and Iraq in general.

Mahmud trained several football clubs including Erbil FC, Kirkuk FC,
and Brusk FC. He is currently the manger of Peshmarga FC--a team that
he recently rescued from beiong demoted to first-grade league. "We
trust Mahmud's capability and plans in summoning the players and
achieving good results in the Cup," said Hussein.

All the members of KFF met with Mahmud on January 30 to discuss player
selection and training plans. According to Hussein, KFF fully is fully
supporting Mahmud in his new career by giving him and his two
assistants, Sameer Saddiq and Khasro Gurun, the green light to select
the best footballers in Kurdistan for the event.

The players who have been summoned to the Kurdistan squad are Didar
Hamid, Ghafur Othman, Wisam Muhammed, Sabah Hasib, Mustafa Kamil, Sami
Aziz, Farman Haydar, Ahmed Shukir, Hardi Syamand, Burhan Abdulkarim,
Nechirvan Shukri, Ali Aziz, Hardi Nuraddin, Shkar Muhsin, Dyar Rahman,
Dyari Ahmed, Prsyar Abdulraza, Shivan Muhammed, Aram Fattah, Karzan
Abdullah, Karsaz Muhammed, Haydar Qaraman, Salahaddin Syamand, and
Miran Khasro.

The selection of the players came after the Kurdistan league ended
three weeks ago, where the league champions were decided and the
accolades of best player, best goalkeeper, and league's top scorer
were officially chosen.

"I and the members of KFF selected the players after evaluating and
testing their capabilities. The selection of these 24 players for the
national team was based on their performance level, and the techniques
they showed in the Kurdistan league," stated Coach Mahmud.

Mahmud at first selected 43 players and put them in a one-week
training camp in Erbil. All the footballers were given equal chances
to play so that they could prove that they deserve to be in the main
squad, but only 24 of them earned the coach's satisfaction.

On Sunday of last week, Kurdistan played a game with Shargat FC, a
team that plays in the Iraqi premier league. The game was for testing
the players and forming the main squad and substitutes out of 43
footballers. Kurdistan lost the game (1-0) to Shargat.

"This game made my job easier as I played with two teams that allowed
all the players show themselves, although we lost the game. Now I know
who I am going to take to Malta to participate in the VIVA
championship," explained Mahmud, feeling sorry for some Kirkuk FC
players who can't participate in the event for playing in the Iraqi
league.

The players are from clubs all over Kurdistan Region cities, including
Kirkuk. The two brothers, Hawar Mullah Muhammed and Halgurd Mullah
Muhammed, were on the list of names of selected players in the
beginning, but they lost their spots in the team due to not attending
training camps.

After the selection, according to Mahmud, the team will go through
another training camp held in Erbil lasting seven days. They are
supposed to meet with a football team from Baghdad for a friendly
match. "The head of KFF, Safeen Kanabi, promised to open a training
camp for the team in Germany so as to adapt to the European
environment before starting VIVA matches in Malta," disclosed Mahmud.

Some players who took part in the last VIVA championship believe that
their participation will make the team adapt more quickly to the
environment and ensure they play as if they are at home.

"I am sure we will be much better than we were in the previous events
if we play as a group, use all our experiences, and do not repeat the
mistakes we committed in the last tournament. I hope we can compile
the best record in the event," said Ghafur Othman, who became the best
goalkeeper in Kurdistan League for the fifth time

Speaking after being selected again for the newly formed Kurdish
national team, Othman said, "I feel very pleased to see myself in the
setup again. It is a fair selection with players represented from
clubs all over Kurdistan. I believe the coach is very fair."

The Kurdistan team could have selected other skilled footballers from
the Erbil and Duhok football clubs, but due to their commitments in
the Iraqi league they were prevented from joining the squad.

The VIVA World Cup is an international competition held every two
years, and is organized by the New Federation Board, an umbrella
association for nations unaffiliated with FIFA. The teams from
Padania, Iraqi Kurdistan, Ocitania, Provence, Lapland, and a two
others are to be confirmed by the NF Board will compete for the Nelson
Mandela Trophy. The Kurdistan Region team participated in the last
tournament and earned second place.

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