Mohannad Abdul-Raheem Karrar (Arabic: مهند عبد الرحيم كرار; born 22 September 1993),[2] is an Iraqi footballer who plays as a striker for Iraq Stars League club Al-Minaa and the Iraq national team. An Olympian,[3] Mohannad is the 2012 Asian Young Footballer of the Year,[4] and the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship's MVP.[5]

Mohannad Abdul-Raheem
Abdul-Raheem at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Full name Mohannad Abdul-Raheem Karrar[1]
Date of birth (1993-09-22) 22 September 1993 (age 31)[1]
Place of birth Baghdad, Iraq
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Al-Minaa
Number 88
Youth career
2008–2009 Al-Karkh
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2012 Al-Karkh (16)
2012–2014 Duhok (22)
2014–2015 JS Kabylie 12 (4)
2015–2016 Al-Zawraa 27 (14)
2016 Al-Nasr 10 (4)
2017 Al-Zawraa 14 (5)
2017 Al Dhafra 11 (3)
2018–2021 Al-Zawraa (35)
2021–2022 Naft Al-Wasat (12)
2022–2024 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (18)
2024– Al-Minaa 0 (0)
International career
2011–2013 Iraq U20 15 (9)
2011–2016 Iraq U23 18 (3)
2012– Iraq 50 (11)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 July 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 December 2018

Club career

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Early career

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From a young age, the childhood Al-Zawraa supporter and son of a tribal Sheikh would spend his free time on the concrete pitches in his local neighbourhood kicking a ball with friends.[6] It was his late uncle Razzaq who encouraged him to take up the game and coached him with his first shaabiya teams at Najoum Al-Mualameen and Iskan Al-Shaabi, the two main football teams in his local area between Iskan and Mualameen where both sides wanted the talented youngster in their team.[6]

Abdul-Raheem had trials with a local club Khutout under Ismail Saleem however he was overlooked and instead started in the Al-Karkh youth system and had a season at Al-Shabab in the second division after he returned from living in Syria to escape the instability of the Iraqi capital – after losing his uncle and brother Mohammed to the violence in Baghdad. His life changed when his late coach Nasrat Nassir at Baghdad's Al-Karkh SC switched him from playing as a wide forward to play upfront in the centre forward position while he was breaking into the Al-Karkh first team.[6]

Al Karkh

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Abdul-Raheem began his youth career at his native Al Karkh FC in 2006 and graduated to the first team in 2009.[7] On his debut in the Iraqi league one playoff, Mohannad scored a hat trick and helped Al-Karkh qualify to the Iraqi Premier League. In 2012 Mohannad left Al-Karkh and joined Duhok SC.

Duhok

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Three years following his competitive debut, Abdul-Raheem moved to Duhok where he spent two seasons from 2012 to 2014. There he showcased his abilities which led him to be an important part of Iraqi youth setups.

JS Kabylie

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Mohannad signed for JS Kabylie in Algeria.[8] He scored his first goal in the 87th minute of the league match against MC El Eulma, and scored his second a minute later. He ended the season with 4 goals in 12 appearances in the league. The team finished the 13th position, surviving relegation by just one point. The team was knocked out in the quarter-final of the cup competition, with a 2–1 loss against ES Sétif. He suffered an Injury and failed to adjust to life in Algeria due to the death of teammate Albert Ebossé Bodjongo.[9] In an interview with Soccer Iraq, the player stated that he decided to cut his time short with the Algerian club due to the incident.[7]

Al Zawraa

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Abdul-Raheem returned to Iraq for the 2015/16 season with Al Zawraa,[10] he was the standout player as he finished the season with 12 goals, being the joint top goal scorer, as well as winning the league with Al Zawraa.[11] He also reached the final of the Iraqi cup with his team, losing to rivals Al Quwa Al Jawiya.

Al Nasr

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On 19 October 2016, Abdulraheem signed for Al-Nasr Dubai as the Asian player.[12] He was there to replace the suspended Wanderley but upon his return from suspension Al Nasr deemed Mohannad surplus to requirements and replaced him with Lebanese Joan Oumari who took the Asian foreign slot.[13] Mohannad left the club after only playing 10 games, scoring 4 goals.

Return to Al Zawraa

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Mohannad returned to Al Zawraa on 20 January 2017.[14][non-primary source needed] He made his debut on 10 February Vs Al Quwa Al Jawiya, receiving a yellow card in the first half. He was fouled in the penalty box later on in the match but his penalty was saved by Fahad Talib, Al Quwa Al Jawiya scored 30 seconds after his penalty miss and the match ended 1–1.[15] He scored his first goal after his return on 2 March against Al Talaba in a 2–1 win.

Al Dhafra

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On 19 July 2017, Mohannad signed for Al-Dhafra in the UAE Pro-League.[16] He made his debut on 8 September, scoring against Al Jazira in the UAE League Cup.[17] He returned again to Al Zawraa in January 2018.

International career

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Mohannad Abdul-Raheem was called into the Iraq U-19s team becoming the main striker in Hakeem Shaker’s ‘young’ team, scoring a goal in the AFC Youth Championship final and going onto be awarded the 2012 Asian Young Footballer of the Year award.[4][6]

There has been some controversy regarding the player's change of name from Mohanad Abdul-Rahman Kazar to Mohanad Abdul-Rahim Karrar in April 2011 just before he called into the Iraqi youth side, with claims that the player had altered his date of birth from 1989.[6][18][19][20][21][22]

He was called by Iraq coach Hakeem Shaker to represent Iraq national team first team in the 21st Arabian Gulf Cup replacing Iraq super star Younis Mahmoud, but stating that he would like to play alongside Younis Mahmoud.[23]

On 18 January 2013 he played alongside Younis Mahmoud in the Arabian Gulf Cup finale against UAE. Mohannad assisted the equalizer to Younis Mahmoud. however, the match ended 1–2 in the extra time for UAE.[24] He scored his first and second goal for Iraq in a friendly match against Malaysia on 1 February 2013.

Mohannad was called up to Iraq's Olympic squad for the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[25] Iraq finished third in their group behind hosts Brazil, and Denmark with 3 points from 3 draws and thus were eliminated at the group stage.[26]

Iraq U-23

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# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 26 January 2014 Seeb Stadium, Seeb, Oman   Saudi Arabia 0–1 0–1 2013 AFC U-22 Championship
2. 23 January 2016 Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar   United Arab Emirates 1–2 (a.e.t.) 1–3 2016 AFC U-23 Championship

National team goals

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Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first.[27]
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 February 2013 Rashid Stadium, Dubai   Malaysia 2–0 3–0 Friendly1
3–0
1. 21 February 2014 Zabeel Stadium, Dubai   North Korea 2–0 2–0 Friendly
2. 26 August 2015 Saida Municipal Stadium, Saida   Lebanon 1–0 3–2
3. 29 March 2016 PAS Stadium, Tehran   Vietnam 1–0 1–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
4. 21 August 2016 STAR Stadium, Kuala Lumpur   North Korea 1–1 1–1 Friendly
5. 6 September 2016 Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam   Saudi Arabia 1–0 1–2 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6. 11 October 2016 PAS Stadium, Tehran   Thailand 1–0 4–0
7. 2–0
8. 3–0
9. 4–0
10. 23 December 2017 Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, Kuwait City   Bahrain 1–1 1–1 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup
11. 2 August 2019 Karbala Sports City, Karbala   Palestine 1–1 2–1 2019 WAFF Championship
1:Non FIFA 'A' international match

Style of play

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Abdulraheem is a physically strong and aggressive lone striker with good skills, tactical intelligence, and confidence in going at opponents with numerical superiority.[28]

Name change

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There has been some controversy regarding the player's change of name from Mohanad Abdul-Rahman Kazar to Mohanad Abdul-Rahim Karrar in April 2011 just before he called into the Iraqi youth side, with claims that the player had altered his date of birth from 1989.[6] In 2011 his name changed from Muhanned Abdulrahman to Mohannad Abdul-Raheem as noted by his page on Kooora's English website Goalzz.com.[18][19][22][29][30]

Honours

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Club

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Al-Zawraa
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya

International

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Youth team
National team

Individual

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References

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  1. ^ a b "FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 List of Players: Iraq" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 23 June 2013. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2013.
  2. ^ "تشكيلة منتخب الشباب الحالية". niiiis.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  3. ^ "Athletes – Famous Olympic Athletes, Medalists, Sports Heroes". 21 June 2017. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  4. ^ a b "AFC Youth Player of the Year (Men): Mohanad Abdulraheem". Archived from the original on 1 September 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  5. ^ "The AFC.Com Abdulraheem named MVP". AFC. Archived from the original on 20 November 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Mubarak, Hassanin. "Iraq Olympic Team Profile". Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Meet Mohanad Abdul-Raheem: Iraq's most promising talisman". Soccer Iraq. 18 September 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  8. ^ "إدارة دهوك: مهند عبد الرحيم سيرحل عن الفريق صوب الاحتراف في الجزائر". Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  9. ^ "العراقي مهند عبد الرحيم يتمنى مغادرة الشبيبة ويصف الجمهور الجزائري بالمتعصب ..!؟" (in Arabic). 1 September 2014. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  10. ^ "مهند عبد الرحيم يوقع لنادي الزوراء لتمثيله الموسم المقبل". 12 June 2015. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  11. ^ "رسميا .. الزوراء بطلا للدوري العراقي". Mawazin News. Archived from the original on 24 May 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  12. ^ "Mohanad Abdulraheem signs for Dubai outfit Al Nasr". Soccer Iraq. 19 October 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  13. ^ "النصر يضم المدافع اللبناني جوان العمري قادماً من سيفاسبور التركي". Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  14. ^ @SoccerIraq (20 January 2017). "Guess who's back" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2017 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ "Radhi's late goal stuns Baghdad as El Clasico ends in stalemate". Soccer Iraq. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  16. ^ "Mohanad has joined UAE club @aldhafraclub". Soccer Iraq. Twitter. 19 July 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  17. ^ "كأس الخليج العربي.. الوصل الإماراتي يتخطى دبا الفجيرة وتعادل الظفرة والجزيرة" (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  18. ^ a b http://www.goalzz.com Muhanned Abdulrahman (English)
  19. ^ a b Mubarak, Hassanin. "Massive age fraud in the Iraqi youth team". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  20. ^ Mubarak, Hassanin. "Iraq 2009/10". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  21. ^ Mubarak, Hassanin. "Iraq 2010/11". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  22. ^ a b Mirza, Mustafa. "Mohanad Abdul-Rahman scoring for Al-Karkh against Zakho". Retrieved 19 December 2017 – via YouTube.
  23. ^ "Iraqfpg.com Mohannad Interview (Arabic)". Archived from the original on 27 November 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  24. ^ "UAE vs. Iraq". Soccerway. 18 January 2013. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  25. ^ "How they rated? Breaking down Iraq's performance player by player at Rio 2016". Soccer Iraq. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  26. ^ "10 Defining Moments from 2016 in Iraqi Football". Soccer Iraq. 1 January 2017. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  27. ^ "Abdul-Rahim, Mohannad". National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  28. ^ "Moon, Abdulraheem are MVP favorites". AFC. 17 November 2012. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  29. ^ Mubarak, Hassanin. "Iraq 2009/10". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  30. ^ Mubarak, Hassanin. "Iraq 2010/11". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
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