Iraq: We will go to the Asian finals with great ambitions

Baghdad - INA

Youth team coach Imad Mohammed confirmed today, Sunday, that the youth team will go to the Asian Cup U-20 finals in China next month with great ambitions.

A statement by the Football Association received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA) quoted Imad Mohammed as saying: "I am responsible for the technical choices in the upcoming participation in which our team will play in Group Two of the Asian Championship alongside the teams of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and North Korea."

He added, "We will go to the Asian Championship with a list of (26) players, and we are the ones who bear these choices, and we are responsible for the results and the future of the team, because we are the closest to the players, and we know the extent of their technical and tactical capabilities," indicating that "the ambition is great and far since I was a player and now a coach."

The youth team coach pointed out that "the players were relied upon based on their physical, technical and tactical abilities," stating "We have good players in all positions, but in return, we have faced difficulties in releasing players for the national team since the past period because we have many players in the Iraqi Premier League, in addition to the refusal of the Electricity and Mina clubs to release players Amouri Faisal, Muslim Musa and Karar Jaafar to go with the national team to Thailand to play friendly matches before heading to the tournament in China."

He continued that "the final preparation will be in Thailand by playing two friendly matches against South Korea and Thailand, in addition to a third match that has not yet been determined, through which we will determine the best and most appropriate formation to represent the Lions of Mesopotamia in the Asian continental forum."

He concluded: "We have studied and analyzed all the teams in the second group, and we have technical statistics for all teams, and we will conduct a realistic analysis during the tournament as well."