Mohanad Ali

Mohanad Ali Kadhim Al-Shammari (Arabic: مهند علي كاظم الشمري‎, born 20 June 2000), commonly known in Iraq as Mimi (Arabic: ميمي‎), is an Iraqi professional footballer who plays as a forward for Portuguese club Portimonense, on loan from Al-Duhail, and the Iraq national team. He is known for his positioning, shooting, heading, close ball control and dribbling.[2]

Mohanad Ali
Mohanad Ali in 2019
Personal information
Full name Mohanad Ali Kadhim Al-Shammari
Date of birth (2000-06-20) 20 June 2000
Place of birth Baghdad, Iraq
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Portimonense
(on loan from Al-Duhail)
Number 13
Youth career
2005–2006 Timsah Al-Amin
2006–2010 Ammo Baba School
2010–2013 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
2013–2014 Al-Shorta
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2019 Al-Shorta 77 (37)
2016–2017 → Al-Kahrabaa (loan) 31 (12)
2019– Al-Duhail 9 (1)
2020– → Portimonense (loan) 4 (0)
National team‡
2013–2014 Iraq U14 10 (12)
2014–2015 Iraq U16 4 (5)
2018– Iraq U23 2 (0)
2017– Iraq 28 (14)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 March 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23 December 2019

Club career

Youth career

Mohanad became interested in football as a child and started playing for a local team in the Baghdad Al-Jadida district called Timsah Al-Amin.[3] He enrolled at the Ammo Baba Football School[4] at the age of six without a trial after coaches had been impressed with the striker. He then joined the Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya youth team,[5] and he represented them in the Al-Zawraa Youth Championship;[6] he was top scorer at two local tournaments, and was then called up by the Iraq FA to play for Saad Hashim’s under-14 team, and with an outstanding performance,[7] he grabbed the attention of the managers of Al-Shorta.[8]

Al-Shorta

Early years

On 24 September 2013, the player signed a five-year contract with Al-Shorta.[8] His competitive debut for the club was under Brazilian coach Lorival Santos in the 2013–14 Iraqi Premier League wearing the number 26 shirt, being substituted onto the field on 85 minutes in the Baghdad Derby against Al-Talaba on 26 March 2014,[9] making him the youngest player to represent Al-Shorta in the club's history at 13 years and 279 days old, and also the youngest player in the history of the Baghdad Derby matches.[10] Al-Shorta won the league title with 43 points from 21 games, earning Mohanad his first honour at club level.[11] In the 2014–15 season, Mohanad played in a four-team friendly competition called the Baghdad Cup, scoring a penalty in the semi-final shootout which Al-Shorta lost to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya.[12]

Mohanad was given the number 8 shirt for the 2015–16 season under coach Hakeem Shaker and he scored his first goal for Al-Shorta on 20 September 2015 against Al-Sinaa in the 2015–16 Iraqi Premier League with a header.[13] He made two starts and nine substitute appearances in the group stage of the league, where Al-Shorta finished 4th in Group 2 to qualify to the Elite Group. In the Elite Group, Al-Shorta finished in 7th position and Mohanad was used as a substitute for three of their six matches.

He spent the 2016–17 season on loan at Baghdad club Al-Kahrabaa,[14] and finished as the top scorer for the club with 12 goals in 31 league matches,[15][16] including scoring four goals in the same match against Al-Karkh on 4 January. The club finished 13th in the league.

2017–18 season

After the loan, he returned to Al-Shorta and renewed his contract in October 2017 for three years, taking the number 18 shirt. He scored his first two goals of the season against Naft Al-Junoob in a 2–1 victory in January 2018.[17] He continued to score regularly throughout the season, forming a partnership with fellow striker Alaa Abdul-Zahra. He scored his first Baghdad Derby goal against Al-Zawraa on 20 January and scoring in another Baghdad Derby against Al-Talaba on 30 January. He finished his season with the team with 17 goals and assisted 8 times in 32 appearances in the league. The team finished in 4th position.

2018–19 season

He began his season with his team with a new coach, Nebojša Jovović, to exploit his speed as he also took on increasing defensive and creative duties. Mohanad scored his first goal and provided an assist in a 3–1 away win over Naft Al-Junoob on 21 October. He scored his second and third in a 3–0 win against Al-Sinaat Al-Kahrabaiya. On 7 November, Mohanad scored his fourth goal against former club Al-Kahrabaa.[18] His fifth and sixth goal with his team came on 24 November including an impressive solo effort,[19] and he scored another extraordinary goal against Al-Naft on 4 March 2019.[20] Mohanad scored 20 goals and 10 assists in 31 games, he won league with the club.

His good form at club level saw him on the radar of many of European and Asian clubs.[21] After his successful 2019 AFC Asian Cup campaign with the national team, there were official offers made from Italian clubs Juventus[22] and Cagliari, Czech club Slavia Prague, Danish club Midtjylland, Belgian club Genk,[23] Turkish club Galatasaray,[24] Greek club AEK Athens and Emirati club Al-Ain but Al-Shorta rejected the offers on 29 January 2019, meaning he would spend the rest of the season at Al-Shorta.[25]

The end of the winter transfer window did not stop clubs from expressing their interest in Mohanad, with Al-Shorta's vice-president Abdul-Wahab Al-Taei stating that offers had also now been made by English club Manchester City, Turkish clubs Fenerbahçe, İstanbul Başakşehir, Yeni Malatyaspor and Hatayspor,[26] Russian club Akhmat Grozny, Qatari club Al-Wakrah and an unnamed Japanese club. After months of speculation about which club Mohanad would sign with, he completed a move to Qatari club Al-Duhail in July who agreed to pay an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be $2 million.[27]

Al-Duhail
"We contracted with Mohanad because we know his great abilities and we saw him with his national team and today he proved this, and he suffered continuous pressure from Doha and from outside Doha but he had great abilities and everyone saw his special goal today."

– Portuguese coach Rui Faria.[28]

On 15 July 2019, he signed a five-year with Qatari side Al-Duhail.[29] Mohanad made his debut for Al Duhail in the AFC Champions League against Al Sadd on 6 August, coming on as a second-half substitute. He scored his first goal with a solo effort after dribbling past Kara Mbodji and George Kwasi in the 89th minute on 3 October,[30] coming on as a substitute in 71st minutes, in a 2–1 home win against Al-Sailiya.[31]

Portimonense (loan)

On 30 January 2020, he was sent on loan to Primeira Liga side Portimonense for the rest of the 2019–20 season.[32]

International career

Youth

Mohanad made his debut for Iraq's Under-14s in 2013 at the age of just 13. He was the joint-top scorer at the 2013 Asian Youth Games with six goals in Nanjing in August 2013, where the Iraq U-14s beat Singapore,[33] Kuwait and Thailand in the quarterfinals before they lost to Iran in the semis and the third and fourth match on penalties to North Korea.[34][7] In the first ever edition of the AFC U-14 Championship in 2014,[35] Mohanad won the top scorer award with six goals[36] and his team won the cup.[37] In the 2015 WAFF U-16 Championship, Mohanad won the top scorer award with five goals and his team won the championship.[38][39]

Senior

He played his first match for the Iraq national team in a friendly against United Arab Emirates on 17 December 2017,[40] however the match was not counted as an official international game, and so his official debut came against Bahrain in the 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup on 23 December 2017.[15] He scored for Iraq in an unofficial friendly game against Iraqi Premier League club Naft Al-Junoob on 24 February 2018.[41] His first and second international goals for Iraq were in a friendly match against Saudi Arabia on 28 February 2018.[15]

He played against Argentina on 11 October 2018,[42] coming on as a second-half substitute.[43] He was nominated by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) as one of the top young talents;[44] he was described as the youngest player who has the potential to changing the shape of the game before 2019 AFC Asian Cup.[2]

He scored his seventh goal against Vietnam on 8 January 2019,[45] and his eighth against Yemen on 12 January 2019,[46] followed by a goal against Jordan to help Iraq win the 2019 International Friendship Championship. Mohanad went on to score five more goals by the end of 2019. After his performance at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup and 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, he was voted the 2019 West Asian Footballer of the Year[47] and was also included in Chinese newspaper Titan Sports "Best Footballer in Asia 2019", which listed 26 of best footballers.[48]

Style of play
“We always trust Mohanad. He has good feet, he can connect powerfully with headers and he is very clever in the box."

– Iraq youth coach Saad Hashim commenting on Mohanad[36]

Mohanad is talented player with good technique and close control, who is an adept header of the ball, and who has an ability to score impressive goals, in the air or with either foot, courtesy of his shooting ability and positional sense. He is physically strong, and is gifted with dribbling skills, anticipation, and confidence in going at opponents with numerical superiority. He is also known for his speed, and his ability beat defenders with sudden turns, as well as his vision, which gave him the ability to link-up with and provide assists for teammates.[2][7][44][49][50]

Personal life

The former international striker Ali Salah is one of his cousins.[51] Mohanad played under the name of his brother Hassan Ali during the 2015–16 season with Al-Shorta and the 2016–17 season with Al-Kahrabaa.[52] While at Al-Kahrabaa, he told the Football-IQ newspaper: "My official data and official documents in the records of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) are under the name Mohanad Ali, which is my real name. All it is is that an error in my personal data then led to me being called the name Hassan. I do not want to return to this issue which bothered me a lot, especially after my forms have been resolved by legal means".[53] Football-IQ confirmed later in the year that an Iraqi court had ruled that his AFC documents under the name Mohanad Ali were correct[54] and that his year of birth was 2000 and not 1997 as had been rumoured,[55] granting him the right to cancel his erroneous passport and obtain a new corrected one, thus allowing him to represent Iraq again.[56][57]

Career statistics

Club
As of 6 March 2020[58][59]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Al-Shorta 2013–14 IPL 10—00—10
2014–15 00—00—00
2015–16 141———141
2017–18 3217———3217
2018–19 301911——3120
Total 77371100007838
Al-Kahrabaa (loan) 2016–17 IPL 311220——3312
Al-Duhail 2019–20 QSL 91102010131
Portimonense (loan) 2019–20 Primeira Liga 3000——30
Career total 1205041201012751

International
As of 5 December 2019.[15]
Iraq national team
YearAppsGoals
201710
2018106
2019178
Total2814

International goals
Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first.[15]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.28 February 2018Basra Sports City, Basra Saudi Arabia3–04–1Friendly
2.4–1
3.27 March 2018 Syria1–01–12018 International Friendship Championship
4.10 September 2018Ali Sabah Al-Salem Stadium, Farwaniya Kuwait1–02–2Friendly
5.15 October 2018King Saud University Stadium, Riyadh Saudi Arabia1–01–12018 Superclásico Championship
6.24 December 2018Suheim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha China PR2–12–1Friendly
7.8 January 2019Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi Vietnam1–13–22019 AFC Asian Cup
8.12 January 2019Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah Yemen1–03–0
9.26 March 2019Basra Sports City, Basra Jordan3–13–22019 International Friendship Championship
10.5 September 2019National Stadium, Manama Bahrain1–11–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
11.10 October 2019Basra Sports City, Basra Hong Kong1–02–0
12.15 October 2019Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh Cambodia2–04–0
13.14 November 2019Amman International Stadium, Amman Iran1–02–1
14.5 December 2019Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha Bahrain1–02–224th Arabian Gulf Cup

Honours

Club

Al-Shorta[11]

International

Iraq Youth team[35][37][38]

Individual
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References
  1. "2019 AFC Asian Cup: List of Players" (PDF). AFC. p. 14.
  2. Lorini, Simone (27 February 2019). "Un talento al giorno, Mohanad Ali: il primo iracheno bianconero?" (in Italian). Tuttomercatoweb.com.
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  3. Mubarak, Hassanin (13 January 2019). "Facts on Mohanad Ali His nickname is "Mimi" because of his inabilty to say Mama when he was a toddler. Comes from the Al-Amin in Baghdad Al-Jadida district in the Iraqi capital where he started playing for a local side called Crocodile Al-Amin. pic.twitter.com/WvIfHrEOZ0".
  4. Mubarak, Hassanin (16 February 2018). "The Ammo Baba Football School. The past and present. Mohanad Alipic.twitter.com/0fsqUJ3jnE".
  5. "نادي القوة الجوية". www.facebook.com.
  6. "منتديات كووورة". forum.kooora.com.
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  9. "الشرطه 2 _1 الطلبه جرت في 26_3_2014" – via www.youtube.com.
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  45. "seventh goal against Vietnam".
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  48. "【2019亚洲金球奖】26人完全排名+全球51位评委名单". Titan Sports (in Chinese). 3 January 2020.
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  51. "Mohanad Meme on Instagram: "ابن خالتي علي صلاح مابيك غير العافيه تكوم بسلامه"". Instagram.
  52. "Hassan Ali Kadhim profile with photo of Mohanad Ali". www.kooora.com. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
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  55. "AFC Asian Cup 2019: The tournament's youngest player might not be the youngest after all". 29 December 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
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  57. Al-Nasser, Falah (21 September 2015). "What is it Mohanad or Hassan". newsabah.com.
  58. "Iraq - Muhanad Ali - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
  59. "Videos". Al Shorta TV.
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