Al Shorta Sports Club

Note: After you read this page, don't forget to check out our exclusive interview with Al Shorta's 2013-14 title-winning coach Lorival Santos, who discusses exactly what went on during this historic campaign. Click here to read it!

On this page, we take a look at another successful season for Al Shorta, the 2013-14 season. Although the league season had to be ended early, Al Shorta became champions of the Iraqi Premier League for the fifth time in their history, as well as playing in the AFC Cup for the first time. This page will examine the season including what happened when and where, the stats and the facts.

Al Shorta made a number of additions to the squad in September, despite manager Thair Jassam leaving the club. After completing the signings of Iraq internationals Ali Bahjat, Ammar Abdul-Hussein, Mustafa Kareem and Qusay Munir as well as recruiting winger Ahmad Hussein, they appointed a new manager, Brazilian Lorival Santos who became their third ever foreign manager in history (read our exclusive interview with Lorival here). He was appointed alongside two more Brazilians who were assistant manager and fitness coach Anderson Nicolau and goalkeeping coach Marquinhos Domingues. This news was followed by the signing of youngster Mohanad Ali, before October saw Mahdi Kareem, Syrian Hamdy Al-Massri, goalkeeper Nebras Salman and Brazilian Cristiano da Silva Santos join the team. The club also said goodbye to a whopping fifteen of the players that had helped the club win the league the season before. After 2-1 and 1-0 friendly wins against Al Minaa and Karbalaa respectively, Al Shorta got their new season underway, with the club attempting to retain their title and Lorival Santos aiming to become only the second foreign manager in history to win the Iraqi Premier League. They started with the ‘Iraqi El Clasico’; the fierce derby between Al Shorta and Al Zawraa was a tight game but with the help of Ali Khudhair’s sending off, Al Shorta managed to snatch a 1-0 victory with new striker Mustafa Kareem scoring the winning goal. The champions could even afford a missed penalty as Iraqi League newcomer Cristiano saw his spot-kick crash against the crossbar in the last minute. The win saw them move to third place in the table after matchday one.

Al Shorta started November with a 2-1 win over Naft Misan that was achieved thanks to a last-minute winner from new Brazilian striker Cristiano; they moved up a place into second in the league. Their next game with Al Talaba was postponed, leaving the club with enough time to organise a friendly before the next league match and that friendly was a 0-0 draw with Iraqi Division 1 side Al Oloom Technology. That did not give them much confidence going into their league game at Al Najaf and that game also ended up goalless, but any disappointment was quickly dashed when it was announced that Al Shorta would participate in the qualifiers for the 2014 AFC Champions League which was huge news for the club. At the end of November, Al Shorta played out their finest game of the season, an astonishing 5-0 victory over Iraqi giants Duhok. Dhurgham Ismail opened the scoring in the first-half with a thumping effort before Mustafa Kareem added two tap-ins after the break and defenders Hamdy Al-Massri and Waleed Salem made it 5-0 to the champions, adding salt to Duhok’s wounds. Midfielder Mohammed Hadi and goalkeeper Amjed Salem also joined the club in November.

The first day of December saw Al Shorta cruise to a 3-1 win over Al Jaish in a friendly match, before they defeated Al Karkh 2-0 in the Iraqi League three days later. Mustafa Kareem (penalty) and Nashat Akram scored the goals, with Nashat’s goal being the last goal 'The Maestro' would score for the club before his move to China.

The win at Al Karkh sent the club to the top of the table, and they would remain there even after drawing 1-1 with Al Minaa in their next league match in which Mustafa Kareem scored his sixth goal of the season. The next day, the draws for the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup took place. Al Shorta would play Al Kuwait S.C. in the first qualifying round (out of three rounds) for the AFC Champions League. If they failed to advance past these three rounds, they would participate in Group C of the AFC Cup alongside the runners-up of the 2013 edition (Al Qadsia of Kuwait), Al Hidd of Bahrain and Al Wahda of Syria. If they did manage to qualify for the AFC Champions League, they would play in Group C of the tournament with Al Ain, Al Ittihad and Tractor Sazi Tabriz. Focus quickly switched back to the league game at Zakho but unfortunately the Police fell to their first defeat of the season, losing 1-0 in snowy conditions with a controversial penalty scored by Khalid Musheer separating the two sides. December 2013 also contained a very historic day for Al Shorta as the club revealed their new badge, featuring a mix of green, white and gold with the famous harp proudly sitting in the centre of the crest below the club's year of foundation.

Also, Nordic Sport announced the initiation of construction of the club’s new sports complex (including a new stadium), Al Shorta Sports City. The final day of the month saw the club defeat Naft Misan 3-0 in a friendly.

2014 started with a series of friendlies for Al Shorta as it was the winter break in the Iraqi League. They played out four friendlies in January, winning 5-2 against Al Karkh and 1-0 against Al Zawraa and drawing 1-1 and 2-2 with Tala Al Jaish and Al Tadamon respectively. All of these friendlies were preparation for one of the biggest matches in the club’s recent history, the AFC Champions League qualifier with 2013 AFC Cup winners Al Kuwait S.C. January also saw the departures of Ahmad Hussein (to Zakho) and Hussein Kareem (to Al Zawraa), and the club announced a kit sponsorship deal with Royal Arena Sport too.

February was a long, eventful month for the champions. Al Shorta began the month with a heart-breaking 1-0 defeat at the hands of Al Kuwait S.C. in the AFC Champions League first qualifying round as Iran international Javad Nekounam’s goal from long-range was enough to see them through to round two of qualifying despite Al Shorta dominating the game. Although they were defeated, they could take pride from the fact that they dominated the 2013 AFC Cup winners at their own ground. Al Shorta would still play in the AFC Cup which was something to look forward to for all those involved with the club. They returned to league action with a crucial game with title rivals Erbil at Al Shaab Stadium. They ran out 2-1 winners with a Mahdi Kareem penalty against his former club and a Cristiano tap-in securing the vital three points which would be three massive points for the club come the premature end of the season.

Al Shorta then played out a goalless draw with Al Naft in the league almost a week later, despite Mustafa Kareem scoring a goal that was incorrectly ruled out for offside.

Al Shorta played three games in March. The first two were AFC Cup group games with the final one being an Iraqi League match. They started the month with their first ever win in the AFC Cup, a 3-1 victory over bottom-of-the-group club Al Wahda. Although the home side took the lead in the opening period, two goals in as many second-half minutes from Amjad Kalaf and a penalty from Mahdi Kareem sealed an historic victory that put them on top of Group C. This would turn out to be the only game that Al Shorta scored a goal in in the entire tournament.

News came through after the game that Al Shorta’s two main strikers, Mustafa Kareem and Cristiano, were both injured and would miss the remainder of the group stage. They then played out their second goalless draw of the tournament against Al Hidd of Bahrain, a draw that saw Al Qadsia overtake them and push the Police down into second in the group, with the absence of their two strikers clearly making an impact. The club returned to Iraqi League action with a much-needed 2-1 victory over Baghdad club Al Talaba, with Ahmed Ayad’s mazing run and finish accompanied by Amjad Kalaf’s well-placed penalty enough to secure the win, despite a late goal from Al Talaba.

April was an action-packed month for the Harps. Al Qadsia’s 1-1 draw with Al Wahda meant that Al Shorta would move to the top of Group C in the AFC Cup with a win over Al Hidd in Qatar, however they failed to capitalise on the opportunity, drawing 0-0 with their Bahraini opponents with Amjad Kalaf’s first-half dismissal doing little to help them out although Al Shorta maintained their position in second place. Al Shorta were struggling to find the net in the competition without Mustafa Kareem and Cristiano, and fell to their heaviest defeat of the season six days later when Al Qadsia comfortably beat them 3-0, despite Al Shorta having a man more than their opponents for the majority of the encounter. Omar Alsoma was the star man of the game for Al Qadsia, netting a hat-trick and pushing Al Shorta down into third position which was not enough to see them through to the round of sixteen. They then returned to league action and despite going a goal down at Naft Misan, Karrar Hameed’s first ever goal for the club equalised the game before two brilliant goals from full-back Dhurgham Ismail secured a good victory.

Their next league match was one of the fiercest derbies in Iraq’s history, the big game at Al Shaab Stadium between Al Shorta (Police) and Al Quwa Al Jawiya (Air Force). Youngster Sherko Kareem sprinted past the defence and slotted the ball home late on for his second ever goal for the club and it was enough to win the game for Al Shorta, who, despite Karrar Hameed’s open goal miss, were now four points behind league leaders Baghdad (now known as Amanat Baghdad) with four games in hand.

Back to the AFC Cup and Al Shorta needed to beat Al Wahda in their final group game and hope that Al Qadsia defeated Al Hidd in order for them to qualify to the next round, but neither result went their way with Al Shorta’s absence of strikers contributing to them playing out their fourth goalless draw of the tournament. The frustration of the players was evident, with Hamdy Al-Massri being sent off in the last minute for an unnecessary lunge on a player. Al Hidd defeated an unmotivated Al Qadsia 3-2 and these results meant that Al Qadsia won the group with Al Hidd coming in second (both had eleven points), Al Shorta in third (with seven points) and Al Wahda at the bottom (with two points). Although this was obviously disappointing for the club, it helped them to focus solely on the Iraqi League without any other distractions and play all of their games in hand.

Al Shorta played five league games in May, more than in any other month. The first of those was their second 1-0 victory in a row in the league, this time against Al Talaba with Amjad Kalaf rounding the ‘keeper and slotting home in the sixth minute to win the game. Five days later, another early goal secured yet another 1-0 victory at Al Shaab Stadium, with Mahdi Kareem’s deflected free-kick in the second minute helping them to defeat Al Najaf. Al Shorta finally moved to the top of the table after they were behind for a long time because they had played fewer games than all of the other teams and “1-0 to Al Qeetharah” was becoming a common phrase among supporters with the club winning 1-0 three times in a row. The scoreboard at Al Shaab Stadium became accustomed to displaying that scoreline on its big screen too:

Al Shorta had won five league games in a row, but that winning streak came to an end at Duhok Stadium as they drew 2-2 with Duhok. Amjad Kalaf opened the scoring on 17 minutes before Duhok took a 2-1 lead but a fantastic 86th minute header from Mustafa Kareem, who had just returned from a lengthy injury, saved Al Shorta from defeat. They returned to winning ways six days later against title rivals Baghdad (now known as Amanat Baghdad) with a vital 2-1 win. Ali Rabo was sent off for Baghdad in the first-half and Ali Bahjat’s 44th minute free-kick gave Al Shorta the lead. Mustafa Ahmed equalised for the home side with only ten minutes remaining and it looked like Al Shorta would draw their second game in a row, but they managed to find a dramatic 88th minute winner as Mustafa Kareem’s effort was parried only as far as Sherko Kareem who fired the ball into the open net to secure three points and keep the club on top of the table.

They ended the month with a disappointing 0-0 draw with Karbalaa as Cristiano was denied an obvious penalty by the referee in the first-half; the Police could have lost the game but Karbalaa’s Brazilian Cleyton missed a penalty with nine minutes remaining, firing the ball over the bar. Had the Police won the game, they would have opened up a two-point gap between them and second-placed Erbil with two games in hand over the Northern club, but they failed to capitalise on the opportunity. This was the start of a disappointing run of games for the club.

Al Shorta drew their next game again, this time with Al Karkh at Al Shaab Stadium. Hamdy Al-Massri scored an absolute screamer on 22 minutes to give his side the lead but the Police conceded two goals either side of the break to go behind before Amjad Kalaf’s late, late header saved his side from embarrassment and the Harps drew the game 2-2. Al Shorta were still top of the league but they were constantly blowing their chances to open up a comfortable lead over Erbil at the top of the table. They blew another chance in their next game at Al Minaa in another goalless draw with Amjad Kalaf and Cristiano (who had recently returned from injury) missing the biggest chances, although, luckily for Al Shorta, Erbil also slipped up, drawing 0-0 with Masafi Al Wasat. However, Erbil thrashed Al Zawraa in their next game to go two points clear of the reigning champions so Al Shorta had to defeat Zakho to regain their lead. Al Shorta did just that, securing their final win of the season at Al Shaab Stadium against Zakho with Ahmed Ayad’s confident finish from outside the box turning out to be the winning goal in another 1-0 win. Zakho went down to nine men late on with Rajaa Rafe and Hamid Esmaeil being sent off for the away side.

Al Shorta could have gone four points clear with a win against Naft Al Junoob at Al Shaab Stadium but, in what turned out to be their final game of the season, nine-man Police succumbed to a hugely disappointing 2-1 defeat to their opponents, with Dhurgham Ismall’s penalty in the second-half turning out to be just a consolation goal. Confidence in the Al Shorta camp was not high as they had won only one of their last five games, all five of them being against supposedly ‘weaker’ opposition. However, the club had earned their place on top of the table for their brilliant form earlier on in the season and were exactly where they deserved to be - in first position.

Then, on 18/06/2014, the Iraqi Football Association (IFA) announced in a statement that the league was to be ended at its current point, with the table on that date being adopted as the final standings for the season. According to IFA member Ali Jabbar, the main reason for the premature end to the campaign was the increased unrest in the country caused by ISIS which made it difficult to schedule games, and Jabbar confirmed that Al Shorta would be considered as the champions with Erbil as the runners-up. Al Shorta had achieved their second consecutive league title and the news was greeted with celebration by supporters, who flocked to Al Shorta's training ground and lifted manager Lorival Santos on their shoulders in jubilation. Lorival became only the second foreign manager in the history of the Iraqi Premier League since its inception in 1974 to win the title and he left the club on the highest of highs as Al Shorta earned an automatic spot in the 2015 AFC Cup group stage (read our exclusive interview with Lorival here). It was another successful season for the club and one that will forever live on in the history books.

Note: All matches played at Al Shaab Stadium count as home matches for Al Shorta, apart from the 1-0 win against Al Zawraa and the 2-1 win against Al Talaba which both count as away matches.

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

• Lorival Santos Interview

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