Al Shorta Sports Club

On this page, we take a look at one of Al Shorta’s most successful seasons in their history, the 2012-13 season. Al Shorta won both the Iraqi Premier League and the Baghdad Cup, playing some exhilarating football along the way. This page will examine the season including what happened when and where, the stats and the facts.

The two months prior to this month (August and September) saw Al Shorta sign ten players and sell a mighty seventeen. The new manager, Thair Jassam, said he wanted to win the league title with the club, something that looked almost impossible as Al Shorta had lost six of their last seven games in the 2011-12 season and finished in seventh place behind the likes of Iraqi giants Erbil, Al Quwa Al Jawiya and Duhok. However, as the weeks leading up to the start of the season passed by, the prospect of Al Shorta lifting the famous Iraqi League shield was looking more and more possible. Striker Hussein Kareem, midfielder Abbas Hussain Ruhaima, goalkeeper Mohammed Gassid, forward Muslem Mubarak, midfielder Hussein Abdul Wahid, midfielder Ahmed Ayad and midfielder Muhammed Faisel all joined the club, along with Al Shorta’s first ever foreign players. Cameroonians Innocent Awoa and Jean Michel N’Lend joined the club along with Ivorian defender Suwaria Mohammed (although the latter left the club almost immediately). After a training camp in Turkey prior to the season as well as 4-1 and 2-1 friendly victories over Al Naft and Naft Al Junoob respectively, Al Shorta kicked off their successful 2012-13 campaign away to Al Sinaah. Al Shorta’s total domination of the game paid off in the last minute of the match when new signing Innocent Awoa volleyed the ball into the bottom corner to seal a 1-0 victory for his side. The last game of the month saw Al Shorta host Al Najaf and defeat them comfortably 2-0 due to goals from Muslem Mubarak and Amjad Kalaf, the latter converting a penalty four minutes before full-time. This win saw them move into joint-second place, behind Duhok and level with Masafi Al Wasat.

The first game in November was a 0-0 draw at Zakho that moved Al Shorta into second place in the league behind Duhok, but the match was overshadowed by the horrific scenes that occurred after the match. Zakho fans assaulted innocent Al Shorta fans leading to a number of injuries and Zakho were duly punished by the Iraqi Football Association (IFA). The next league game was Al Shorta’s first at Al Shaab Stadium and it was against fierce rivals Al Quwa Al Jawiya. In what was arguably Al Shorta’s best win of the season, Jean Michel N’Lend’s hat-trick of headers inspired ten-man Al Shorta to an unbelievable 4-1 victory over ten-man Jawiya. This was the match that caused fans and pundits to really consider Al Shorta to be serious title challengers for the first time in many years.

Muslem Mubarak celebrating with hat-trick hero Jean Michel N'Lend during the 4-1 win over Al Quwa Al Jawiya. N'Lend wrote his name into the history books by becoming the first foreigner to score a hat-trick in the Iraqi League

They travelled to play Masafi Al Wasat four days later and won an exciting game 3-2 with Muhammed Faisel, Amjad Kalaf and Muslem Mubarak scoring Al Shorta’s goals. Their last game in November ended in a disappointing 0-0 draw against Al Kahrabaa in a match in which Jean Michel N’Lend failed to take the many opportunities that he had to win the game. In November, Al Shorta also announced the signing of Iraqi right-back Waleed Salem from Erbil.

After a 3-2 friendly win over Al Jaish, Al Shorta went to Al Shaab Stadium to play Al Naft and drew the game 2-2, with Jean Michel N’Lend opening the scoring and Hussein Abdul Wahid heading in a late equaliser for Al Shorta. Less than a week later, Al Shorta drew their third league game in a row at Al Sulaimaniya as Dhurgham Ismail’s wonderful goal was not enough to win the game for the Police; Jean Michel N’Lend was sent-off in the last minute but Al Shorta remained in second place. After the game, Al Shorta’s president Ayad Bunyan announced that Nigerian striker Minusu Buba was to join the club on loan from Egyptian side Al Gounah. The month ended on a positive note with Al Shorta beating Al Kahrabaa 2-0 in a friendly match.

Al Shorta took a short break from Iraqi League action at the start of the New Year and played out three friendly games. The first was a 3-1 win over Masafi Al Wasat, followed by 2-2 and 1-1 draws with Al Naft and Al Sinaah respectively. Al Shorta then returned to Iraqi League action and a scintillating performance saw them destroy Al Minaa 4-1 with Dhurgham Ismail, Hussein Kareem, Ahmed Ayad and Ali Rahim bagging Al Shorta’s goals in what was one of their greatest performances of the season which kept them in second place.

The game was followed by another home game four days later, this time against Naft Al Junoob who were third in the table at the time. Al Shorta brought them back down to earth, winning the game 2-1 thanks to skilful headers from strikers Hussein Kareem and Jean Michel N’Lend in the first-half.

February was a splendid month for Al Shorta. Al Shorta finally leapfrogged Duhok and moved into first place with a 1-0 win at Karbalaa with Hussein Kareem scoring for the third match in a row. Duhok's 2-1 loss to Erbil meant that Al Shorta moved into first place and the Harps would stay on top of the table for the next fourteen rounds of the league. Five days later Al Shorta extended their lead at the top with another 1-0 win, this time at home to struggling Kirkuk. Hussein Kareem scored yet another goal in this game; this time a wonderful bicycle kick that was one of the goals of the season and he was showing form similar to his form in the 2009-10 season for Al Shorta. Two 1-1 draws followed the defeat of Kirkuk, with Ahmed Fadhel’s long-range shot securing a point in a crucial game with title rivals Duhok before Minusu Buba scored his first goal for Al Shorta with a header in a 1-1 draw with Baghdad (now known as Amanat Baghdad). Despite the departures of Muhanned Jabbar, Haider Salem, Abbas Hussain Ruhaima, Ali Hussein Fandi and Husain Abdullah, Al Shorta completed what would be the best and most important signing of the entire season. Iraqi football legend Nashat Akram returned to Al Shorta for his second spell at the club, lifting the morale at the club as well as adding to the squad’s existing quality. Nashat said that he joined the club to help them win the league title and that was exactly what he did.

He made his first substitute appearance for the club in his second spell in a 2-1 win over Al Zawraa at Al Shaab Stadium. The packed stadium witnessed Al Zawraa take the lead through Ali Qasem before goals from Waleed Salem and Jean Michel N’Lend within two minutes at the end of the first-half won Al Shorta the fierce derby. Nashat almost made an instant impact when he was subbed on when his mazing run saw him through on goal but his effort flew over the bar. Also, defender Kassim Zidan re-joined the club in February for his third spell with Al Shorta.

Al Shorta’s first and last league game of March came on its first day at Al Shaab Stadium against Al Talaba, who were in the relegation zone at the time. This fact meant that the 1-1 draw that was played out between the two teams was slightly disappointing for Al Shorta. Amjad Kalaf opened the scoring in the first-half with a volley and Jean Michel N’Lend’s open goal miss would prove costly as Al Talaba equalised just after the hour mark. However, Al Shorta remained on top of the table at the half-way point of the season as Duhok had drawn 1-1 with Karbalaa a day earlier. The announcement of the signing of Burkina Faso defender Paul Koulibaly from Dinamo Bucharest followed the game and he would go on to become a key player for Al Shorta on their way to winning the double. Al Shorta’s next three games in March were all friendlies in Turkey, with Al Shorta going on a training camp there during the Iraqi League break. They defeated Fana Idrettslag 2-0 before thrashing Hirwan Zaki and Ituri F.C. 5-0 and 5-1 respectively with Nashat Akram starring in all three games.

Al Shorta eased past Al Sinaah at home in their first game of April with Nashat scoring a brilliant free-kick in his first competitive start for the club; the game was played in honour of the late Abbas Raheem. Headers from Amjad Kalaf and Minusu Buba followed to keep Al Shorta on top of the table. A few days after the game, Al Shorta revealed the new bus that would transport fans to away matches.

A 1-1 draw at Al Najaf followed with Nashat converting a penalty to level the game, before a neat finish from Nashat secured a vital 1-0 win for Al Shorta against eventual runners-up of the league, Erbil at the Franso Hariri Stadium. The importance of the goal can be understood if you consider that Al Shorta only finished two points ahead of Erbil at the end of the season.

The first match of May was, without a doubt, Al Shorta’s worst of the season. They had maintained an impressive unbeaten record throughout the first twenty games of the season which was abruptly ended at Al Shaab Stadium in the most humiliating fashion as local rivals Al Quwa Al Jawiya thrashed them 4-0, with three of the goals coming from former Al Shorta players. However, they immediately bounced back with a 5-0 victory over Masafi Al Wasat with Amjad Kalaf bagging two goals in the game, keeping them on top of the table.

Al Shorta’s last league game for over a month came at lowly Al Kahrabaa where Amjad Kalaf’s equaliser saved Al Shorta from an embarrassing defeat as they drew the game 1-1, although Nashat Akram was denied a clear and obvious penalty by a controversial referee near the end of the game. Al Shorta then played their penultimate friendly game of the season, defeating Iraq's youth team 4-1 thanks to a double from Muhaimen Salim and further goals from Muhammed Faisel and Muslem Mubarak. Afterwards, Al Shorta terminated the contract of out-of-form striker Jean Michel N’Lend, with Al Shorta’s vice-president Adnan Jafar stating that they had many players that could replace him in that position.

16th June 2013 will go down in Al Shorta’s history as the day in which they won their first trophy in eight years. After a 3-0 friendly win against Al Sinaah, a weakened Al Shorta side, who were top of the league at the time, travelled to Al Shaab Stadium to face second-placed rivals Al Zawraa in a one-off cup final, the final of the Baghdad Cup. After Al Kadhimiya defeated Al Adhamiya earlier in the day to win the Love and Peace Cup, Al Shorta, captained by defender Fareed Majeed on the day, defeated Al Zawraa 1-0 in a thrilling game to secure the Baghdad Cup trophy. The goal which sealed the historic victory came when Hussein Kareem tapped the ball in on 57 minutes after the ball had rebounded off of the post from Muslem Mubarak's curling effort. Not only did this victory secure the first part of the double, but it also gave Al Shorta the confidence to go on and complete the double by winning the league three months later.

Al Shorta returned to league action eleven days later with a 2-1 win over Al Naft at Al Shaab Stadium thanks to a penalty from Amjad Kalaf and a tap-in from Muslem Mubarak, keeping the club on top of the table.

The Al Shorta team posing for a team photo before their 2-1 victory against Al Naft

Al Shorta destroyed Al Sulaimaniya 4-0 at home in the league with Minusu Buba grabbing two goals in the game and Muslem Mubarak and Muhaimen Salim scoring the other two goals. But the next league match saw Al Shorta lose only their second game of the entire season at Al Minaa as a weakened Al Shorta side, who had players on international duty, succumbed to a 2-1 defeat to their Basra opponents with Muhaimen Salim scoring Al Shorta’s goal. This allowed Al Zawraa overtake Al Shorta at the top of the table, with the leaders having played a game more than the Harps. Al Shorta duly returned to the top of the table by defeating Naft Al Junoob 2-0 in their next game through goals from Muslem Mubarak and Muhammed Faisel. Al Shorta were favourites to win their next match at home to Karbalaa but found themselves 2-0 down with just twenty minutes of the game remaining. In order to win the game and remain on top of the table, Al Shorta had to score three goals in twenty minutes and, as true champions would, they did just that, largely thanks to ‘The Maestro’ Nashat Akram. After Minusu Buba’s header brought Al Shorta back into the game, Nashat’s thunderbolt from almost thirty yards out levelled the game before a calm and composed finish from Hussein Kareem sealed a priceless victory in what was without a doubt the best comeback of the entire season. The last game of the month saw Al Shorta travel to bottom-club Kirkuk and defeat them 1-0 thanks to a Fareed Majeed header. This victory gave Al Shorta the confidence they needed before they went into the final five games of the season where they would play Duhok, Baghdad, Erbil, Al Zawraa and Al Talaba.

Al Shorta started off their run of five tough, deciding games with a 4-3 win in the most exciting game of the season at home to Duhok. Minusu Buba and Amjad Kalaf gave Al Shorta a 2-0 lead before Duhok scored at the end of the first-half and early on in the second-half to make it 2-2. Mahdi Kamil gave Al Shorta the lead again only for Al Shorta to concede a sloppy goal to Alaa Abdul-Zahra a few minutes later. But Amjad Kalaf won a penalty with two minutes remaining which Muhammed Faisel coolly tucked away to win Al Shorta the game and send the packed stadium wild.

Minusu Buba giving Al Shorta the lead in the dramatic 4-3 victory over Duhok

The next three games all ended 1-1. The first of the 1-1 draws was at Baghdad (now known as Amanat Baghdad) with Al Shorta’s Muslem Mubarak cancelling out Husam Ibrahim’s opener at the end of the first period. This set them up for a game with Erbil which was to be played at Al Shaab Stadium rather than Al Shorta Stadium, which angered Al Shorta’s fans and management, but they had to deal with this disgraceful decision from the IFA. Both sides went down to ten men on 52 minutes as a clash of heads between Innocent Awoa of Al Shorta and Hawar Mulla Mohammed of Erbil saw them both sent off. Mahdi Kamil gave Al Shorta the lead nine minutes later and a win would have seen them crowned as champions for the first time in ten years but Louay Salah broke Al Shorta’s hearts with a last minute equaliser. This meant that Erbil were four points behind Al Shorta with two games remaining. After the Erbil game, the Harps played a friendly against Masafi Al Wasat to prepare for the big derby against Al Zawraa and won the match 3-2 with two Hussein Kareem goals and a Dhurgham Ismail goal. The derby came nine days after the Erbil tie, and before the game, Hashim Ridha had a mini-testimonial match for Al Shorta against Al Zawraa (one of his former clubs) and he scored a goal in the match. The retirement ceremony set the Police up for a huge game that could potentially have won them the league title, and Nashat’s header opened the scoring for Al Shorta before a late Hayder Sabbah free-kick for Al Zawraa six minutes from time yet again broke the hearts of Al Shorta’s fans and players. This draw and Erbil’s win over Al Sinaah meant that Al Shorta were just two points ahead of Erbil and needed to win against Al Talaba (who were fighting to avoid relegation) in order to secure an historic league title.

Al Shorta went into their final match of the season at Al Shaab Stadium against Al Talaba with the knowledge that if they won the game, they would be crowned as the Iraqi Premier League champions. But, if Al Shorta drew the game and Erbil won their game against Al Najaf, Erbil would win the league, and if Al Shorta lost the game, Al Quwa Al Jawiya and Erbil could both overtake them and Al Shorta would be left without having even qualified for the AFC Cup. But, on 04/09/2013, the fairytale would be completed for Al Shorta as goals from Hussein Kareem, the departing Minusu Buba and Dhurgham Ismail saw them crowned as the Iraqi Premier League champions for the first time in over a decade. It was the perfect end to a perfect season and the players walked up to receive their medals with Nashat Akram (the captain of the side) allowing his close friend Amjad Kalaf to be the first man to lift the trophy as a sign of respect for the fact that Amjad had been at the club for the last six years without leaving, even through the toughest of times. The fans crowded around to see the trophy presentation and it was a wonderful day for all those involved. It would be the last moment in an Al Shorta shirt for many of the players but they cherished the moment, as did the fans and the manager Thair Jassam who, with the help of president Ayad Bunyan, completely transformed the club from a relatively mid-table side into the best team in the whole of Iraq. The double of the Iraqi Premier League and the Baghdad Cup was finally complete and Al Shorta can be proud of what they achieved during the 2012-13 season. Hopefully Al Shorta can replicate the success of this season for many, many years to come.

Note: Average time taken to score first goal and average time taken to concede first goal are approximate values rather than exact values.
Note: Al Shorta's 4-1 win against Al Quwa Al Jawiya, their 2-2 draw against Al Naft, their 1-1 draw against Al Talaba, their 1-1 draw against Erbil and their 1-1 draw against Al Zawraa count as home games, despite the fact that all five were played at a neutral venue (Al Shaab Stadium).

Note: Al Shorta's 2-1 win against Al Zawraa, their 4-0 defeat against Al Quwa Al Jawiya, their 2-1 win against Al Naft and their 3-0 win against Al Talaba count as away games, despite the fact that all four were played at a neutral venue (Al Shaab Stadium).

Note: Assists are calculated based on Opta's event definition for a 'Goal Assist'.

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