Iraqi football in the two Republics, Vol II
When I was putting the finishing touches to my third book, "Iraqi football in the two Republics, Vol II," I was already way into planning on the next book, "Far from War and Politics," the story of Iraq's miraculous 2007 Asian Cup victory, so I have kind of neglected it, and not given it as much attention as the others I have written, which is why I decided to write about some of the subjects and chapters in the book.
The book documents football in Iraq over the years 1963 to 1968, from the Olympic qualifiers, to the reason why the Iraqi national side and the National Army football team were virtually the same team in the 1960s, the two Arab Cup victories in 1964 and 1966, Iraq's first national coach, Army Major Adil Basher, the renowned Swiss architect Corbusier and his story with Iraq's national stadium, the Al-Shaab, the matches involving visiting foreign teams to Iraq, and many more stories.
I have written three short articles on stories featured in the book. The first is on Ammo Baba, who was Iraq's all-time top scorer during the period.
Ammo Baba – The man, the legend
When writing about football in Iraq, the name of Ammo Baba will almost always come up, and in this book, I chronical the twilight years of the legend’s days as a player, and the beginning of his coaching career. His time as captain of an Arab national team. The positional changes he made over his playing career, from Iraq's Ferenc Puskás, to being converted into an Iraqi Nándor Hidegkuti, as a deep-lying No.9. His fateful injury at the 1965 Pan Arab Games in Cairo at the hands of Saeed Athab, whose name ironically translates to 'Happy Torment,' and finally his first steps into the world of coaching.
Three games defined Ammo Baba's playing career in the mid-Sixties, the first came against Jednota Trenčín.
After the February Revolution of 1963, being Iraq's star player, Ammo Baba was at his peak of his powers, but after Iraq were drubbed 4-0 by Iran in an Olympic qualifier in Tehran, he was dropped. It triggered something within him, an inherent drive to improve, which he carried with him from his youth.
In the next big encounter at the Kashafa after Iraq's Olympic exit, the Iraqi Army team took on Jednota Trenčín of Czechoslovakia.
The European club had played a series of matches in the Middle East, undefeated in its tour of Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Kuwait, the club had organised one final game in Baghdad against the Iraqi Army team, captained by non-other than Ammo Baba
The game heralded a new role for the player, wearing the No.10 jersey and bestowed the captain's captaincy, Ammo Baba was handed the role as the Montakhab's playmaker.
In Iraq, Ammo Baba was a player ahead of his time, in the way he conducted himself and also how he played the game.
At only 24, he was considered one of Iraq’s best-ever players, and at such a young age, he was already coaching a championship-winning team of his peers.
A national hero, even in his early twenties, he was regarded not only as a footballer but also a teacher of the game, a maestro or a football school of thought.
He was also a versatile footballer, who could play anywhere he was asked. In the late 50s, the coach of the Army team once asked him to play at centre half to replace injured captain Jamil Abbas, and in the 60s, the Yugoslav coach Kosta Tomašević selected him at left-back.
Ammo never shrugged his shoulders nor questioned the decisions or intentions of the trainer; he just got on with it. A model professional and an example to his footballing peers, whether older or younger.
The match at the Kashafa Stadium on January 26, 1964, was played in front of a capacity crowd of 20,000, which included the acting Chief of Staff, General Abdul-Rahman Arif, and a number of senior government officials and high-ranking military officers.
The Iraqi Army coach Adil Basher deployed the new 3-3-4 formation, with Ammo Baba - in the number ten jersey – in a playmaking role behind a four-man attack of Husham Atta Ajaj, Shamil Tabra, Amer Jamil and Qasim Zuwiya.
For Ammo Baba, the attacking midfield role for the Iraqi Army first eleven was an unfamiliar position. But after the game, Jednota Trenčín's trainer, Karol Borhy, once coach of Czechoslovakia during the 1950s, lauded the player, and commented the Iraqi No.10 “was one of the best footballers he had ever seen,” after he had led his team’s defence a merry dance.
At the final whistle, Ammo was carried on the shoulders of spectators to celebrate the 4-1 victory over the European side.
The win signalled a change in the Iraqi team’s style. Its trainer had been a prominent advocate of the British WM, until the success of the Al-Jawiya side during the 1963-64 season under Shawqi Aboud, with a deep-lying forward, a role regularly played by Ammo Baba.
Iraq's new formation had been adapted from the great Hungarian Magyar side of the 50s, and Brazil's 1958 and 1962 World Cup-winning team.
It came about when Iraqi coaches, Adil Basher and Shawqi Aboud, had been taking part in a coaching course at Lilleshall in 1961.
While in England, they had caught a glimpse of another similar formation, the 3-3-4 of Bill Nicholson’s 1961 double-winning Tottenham Hotspur side, while observing league matches and training sessions at Football League clubs.
On their return, Major Shawqi Aboud experimented with the cadets of Kuliya Al-Askariya and then won a treble with Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya with a similar formation, incorporating a playmaker.
From there on, the Iraqi Army side’s WM, inspired by Arsenal’s Herbert Chapman in the 1930s, moved to a formation similar to the WW of North London rivals Tottenham of Bill Nicholson.
Though the new formation was close to Spurs’ 3-3-4, with an inside forward playing as a creative midfielder, with two half backs, the Iraqi formation also incorporated the Hungarian inspired WW.
It was a development of the British WM, created by Márton Bukovi of MTK Hungária, who had effectively turned the 3-2-5 WM “upside down” with the lack of an effective centre forward.
It moved the No.9 into midfield to create a playmaker, with one of the midfielders or half-backs instructed to focus on defensive duties. Ammo Baba took on the Nándor Hidegkuti ‘false nine’ or the John White “ghost” role, but wore the No.10 instead of the No.9 or the No.8.
The victory over Jednota Trenčín symbolised a shift in Iraq’s playing style, with the introduction of a playmaker. Man of the match, Ammo Baba, was carried off the field on the shoulders of hundreds of cheering fans.
The victory heightened the belief and morale of Iraq’s fans and players, and five days later; the Iraqi Army registered a historic 2-1 win over Turkey, their first-ever victory over their neighbours.
Victory over Zamalek
Months later, after Ammo Baba was dropped for the 1964 Arab Cup, the striker’s form dipped, and he struggled to rediscover his old self. The turn of the year didn’t see any improvement, and there was an incident in a friendly game against Egyptian side Al-Tayaran Al-Arabi, in the colours of the Iraqi Army, in which the striker committed a mistake which cost his team the game, and it had many fans and people in the media believing it would spell the end of his international career.
It was a mistake Ammo Baba himself could not forgive, a huge blunder costing his team the opportunity to get back into the game when he wasted a penalty kick. He failed to take the chance from the spot, and his team lost 2-1.
But what was worse, was that he had failed to take any of the chances which had come to him, not even one opportunity.
One chance had the spectators and journalists in attendance believing the star had lost his goalscoring touch, when from only two yards, he missed an open goal and put the ball out of play. But it was a turning point for Ammo Baba.
At the age of 30, many were questioning whether it was time to drop the striker, who had been a regular from the day he had made his debut against Egypt a decade earlier.
In his analysis for the Al-Malaab newspaper, the well-known journalist Ibrahim Ismail poured scorn on the head of the misfiring striker, who he named Al-Shater Al-Khata (‘good in failure’), writing that “the Ammo Baba of today was not the same as the one of yesterday.”
However, Ammo didn’t take this lying down, he was a player who had never shirked away from a challenge on the pitch nor his critics off it, and in the space of a few weeks he had redeemed himself when he led the attacking line at the Army Games in Damascus, winning the cup for Iraq.
In mid-1965, Ammo Baba, was back to top form, and on the eve of the Pan Arab Games in Cairo, he was even named captain of an Arab national team.
Now with Shawqi Aboud in charge of Iraq, in preparation for the tournament, Ammo Baba’s performance against Egyptian giants Zamalek had signalled his return to the summit of the national game, as team captain and the playmaker or main architect for the Iraqi side.
In their previous warm-up game against Egypt's Al-Tersana, a local journalist stated the switching of positions between Ammo Baba and the two inside forwards had made Iraq's 3-3-4 or 4-2-4 formation difficult to pin down to the untrained eye.
The final game of Iraq's preparations came against the Egyptian champions Al-Zamalek.
The Iraqi team were kitted out in the red jerseys of Zamalek’s city rivals Al-Ahly, with a section of their fans supporting the Iraqis at the Zamalek stadium.
Iraq were 1-0 up after only a few seconds, catching everyone, from the spectators at the stadium, the match commentator, to the fans back in Iraq listening in on Baghdad Radio, by surprise. The Iraqi team were able to complete a comfortable 3-0 victory over the Egyptian champions, considered one of the best club sides in the region.
The result caused shockwaves in Egypt and made Iraq one of the favourites to win gold at the Pan Arab Games in Cairo.
Aden and Saeed Athab
The third game that defined Ammo Baba's career in the mid-Sixties was the fateful match at the Pan Arab Games against Aden in 1965, that almost ended his playing career altogether.
Iraq’s first group opponents at the Games, after the opening game between Egypt and Iraq was abandoned because of crowd congestion, were a team playing under the name of Aden, representing the State of Aden (‘Wilayat Aden’) in the Federation of South Arabia formed in 1963, later to become the People's Republic of South Yemen in 1967, a forerunner to the South Yemen national side.
Ammo Baba scored Iraq’s first after the Iraqi attack combined, with their captain finishing off the move in the ninth minute.
The Iraqi attack seemed to dictate the game and overpower their opponents with their superior physical fitness and skill on the ball, and were dominant in the air.
Then, a series of passes was finished off by Qais Hamed after a one-two between Qais and Husham Atta Ajaj for the second goal in the 32nd minute. A minute before half-time, it was 3-0 to Iraq, with Ammo Baba netting his second in the 39th minute.
On a proposal from FIFA president Sir Stanley Rous, who was part of the Organising Committee at the Games, delegates from each team agreed the group matches would be played over 80 minutes instead of the usual 90 minutes, citing the large number of fixtures each team would play in a short period of time, which would affect the standard of play and increase player fatigue.
At the start of the second half, just two minutes in, Ammo played a ball to Husham for the fourth, but seven minutes into the half, Ammo was laying injured, clutching his right knee after he was kicked by left half Saeed Athab, and in agony, he had to be carried off the pitch by Iraq’s reserve keeper. But even with ten men, Iraq poured forward, looking on at their captain suffering on the sidelines, Qais netted the fifth after 67 minutes, and later added a sixth through Husham.
Iraq had won its first game in the tournament, but with the injury to Ammo, the victory was soured, and his captain was a doubt for the next game.
Against Lebanon, Iraq failed to score in a 0-0 stalemate. From the first minute of the game, it was clear the absence of Ammo Baba at the heart of Iraq’s attack would affect the team severely - the captain was a visible absentee, sitting in the dugout with his injured right foot in a caste resting on a chair. His coach was frustrated that he was unable to call on his services - the one player who could unlock opposition defences.
Iraq drew 1-1 with the surprise team of the tournament, Palestine, setting up a final game with group leaders Egypt. Iraq needed a point to leap above rivals Palestine and reach the last four, but against Egypt, Iraq left the pitch without scoring a goal and gaining the point they desperately needed. As they walked off, they knew their fate had been decided by the combination of Saeed Athab’s wild lunge, Ammo Baba’s injured knee, and an early Egyptian goal, which had all compounded Iraq to an early exit at the Pan Arab Games.
Al-Malaab sports newspaper’s envoy at the Games, Muayad Al-Badry, poetically wrote in one of his dispatches to Baghdad about the national team that, “Iraq’s team without Ammo Baba, is like a boy without a father.”
Ammo would be out of action for almost two years. The career-threatening injury ended any hopes of gaining a medal. The coach had no suitable replacement and without a playmaker, the Iraqi side was unable to find the net from open play, with the only goal in their following three games coming from a header from a free-kick.
While the Iraqi side fell at the group stage for a second time, the style of play had made everyone from the spectators, the media and the opposing teams sit up and take notice of Iraq’s team.
The coach
After having surgery abroad and missing the whole of the 1965-1966 season, Ammo returned on December 29, 1966, in a 5-1 defeat to Aliyat Al-Shurta.
He had last played a competitive game 481 days prior, with many believing he would never return to the field.
However, Ammo lived up to expectations and brilliantly captained the young cadets of Kuliya Askariya in front of almost 8,000 spectators at the Kashafa, but his young charges were overwhelmed by the mighty Aliyat.
He would also return to the national team in early 1967, scoring in a 2-2 draw with Sudan at the Tripoli Fairs' Cup Tournament in Libya. At 33, it was to be Ammo Baba’s final international for Iraq, his 10th overall, in which he had scored 12 goals, at the time making him Iraq's all-time top scorer.
At the age of 35, in 1970, Ammo Baba played his final competitive game, with the legend finally hanging up his boots after a career spanning 20 years to pursue a full-time career in coaching. A few months later, he was appointed as head coach of the Iraq Army team, and won the 1970 Al-Jumhouriya Cup, his first trophy.
His first taste of the coaching world had come at the age of 24 at Nadi Al-Athori while he had also supervised daily training sessions at Kuliya Al-Askariya.
Later, the player-coach became the first Iraqi coach to manage two teams in a single season in the FA’s Baghdad League. While he was playing for and coaching Kuliya Al-Askariya, he was also supervising Al-Maslaha during the 1967-1968 First Division season.
When the two sides met in the league, on the match day, Ammo Baba, played and managed Kuliya Al-Askariya, while Al-Maslaha were supervised by the team’s goalkeeper and assistant, the team captain Mohammed Thamir. One of Al-Maslaha’s players commented, prior to the league match, that Ammo Baba would not see any of the ball when the two sides met, and so when this reached Ammo Baba, the player-coach phoned Mohammed Thamir and told him to drop the player!
As a coach, in early 1967, Ammo Baba made his coaching debut in international football when he was assigned to take charge of Al-Maslaha’s match with Niederrhein, a regional select team from West Germany, in which his side lost to the touring Germans.
The Iraqi President Abdul-Rahman Arif turned up unexpectedly five minutes after kick-off to watch the great Ammo Baba make his first big bow as coach, and on arrival, the Iraqi leader was received by rapturous applause from spectators.
The Public Transport players had undergone a rigorous training regime under the PT instructor Ammo Baba. The home side, while virtually outclassing and dominating their West German opponents in the opening forty-five minutes, dramatically slumped in the second half, conceding three goals in the space of only seven minutes and went onto lose 4-0.
One of the biggest crowds of the season left the Al-Shaab disappointed by the performance and the manner of the home side’s defeat.
A month later, the Iraq FA asigned Ammo Baba to supervise the Baghdad XI for a friendly with the East German national side, with the bulk of his squad comprised of players from his team Al-Maslaha and a few others from the police team. But once again his side were defeated 4-0 by a German team – a unique achievement of being defeated by a side from the FDR one month and a team from the GDR the following month.
The game’s “coup de maître,” or masterstroke, was the brilliant well-worked third goal engineered by the German’s elusive Otto Fräßdorf, a player who was difficult to pin down in one role. He had the ability to slot in at right-back as he had played against Iraq and also as a forward, with the GDR coach Hungarian trainer Károly Sós starting him at outside right against the Baghdad XI.
The goal came in the 69th minute after a Baghdad player had committed a foul which had resulted in a free-kick some 25-yards away from the Iraqi goal. The home side set up their wall, and the player Otto Fräßdorf stood on the ball with everyone expecting him to take it. Fräßdorf motioned to kick the ball but feigned and ran into the Iraqi box unmarked, as one of his teammates surprisingly took the dead-ball searching out the outside left standing close to the left side of the Iraqi goal. A split second later, the winger passed the ball to Fräßdorf appearing across goal and his header found the net. The Baghdad defence had been completely carved opened.
The visitors completed the rout with a fourth goal scored thirteen minutes from time to pile more misery on Ammo Baba’s Baghdad team.
The home side had been well and truly beaten, taught a lesson in football by the superior East Germans.
Ammo Baba would go back to the drawing board and spend a few months at East Germany’s prestigious Hochschulsport Universität Leipzig (Leipzig Sports University) to study the training methods and techniques of the East Germans. The manner of the defeats had blotted Ammo’s copyright for some time, but the ex-Iraq captain persevered, learning from the defeats, and a decade on became head coach of Iraq.
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