The 2022–23 season will be Al-Minaa's first season in the Iraqi First Division League since the 1989–90 season and their third overall, having been relegated from the Iraqi Premier League in the 2021–22 season. Al-Minaa are participating in the Iraqi First Division League and the Iraq FA Cup.
Review
After the end of the 2021–22 season, the Football Association did not specify the mechanism for the participation of clubs and their number in the subsequent season, and the matter remained ambiguous. Orally and in the media, the Football Association decided that the system of playing in the league will be according to the professional league system, and any club that did not complete its file according to the Club Licensing Law will not participate. The president of Football Association, Adnan Dirjal promised the president of Al-Minaa club and the governor of Basra that the Al-Minaa team would play in the Iraqi Premier League and not in the Iraqi First Division League if the club completed the licensing file. Based on the foregoing, the club contracted with coach Basim Qasim and five professionals, paid all their debts and completed the licensing file. But the club was surprised by the decision of the Football Association to reverse its decision to play according to the professional league system and not to accredit the licensed clubs, and that they were deceived by the Football Association.
The club's administrative problems and the unfair decision of the Football Association directly affected the bad start of the Al-Minaa matches, as it exited early from the FA Cup, and it also lost its first match in the First Division League by a difference of 3 goals.
However, the team gradually improved, and in the last rounds of the league, it topped Group 2, finished its matches at the top with 46 points, and was promoted to the Premier League and return after only one season, and it was decided that the team would play the final match in Baghdad on May 26, 2023 against Amanat Baghdad to determine the league champion. The Al-Minaa administration demanded that the match be transferred to Basra due to the large number of fans of the Al-Minaa, so that the match would be more attended, and the Amanat Baghdad administration agreed to that. Later, the Football Association decided that the match would be held on 2 June in Al-Fayhaa Stadium.
In the final, Al-Minaa was able to defeat Amanat Baghdad, 2–1, and win the title. The goals of Al-Minaa were scored by Sajjad Alaa (6') and Salem Ahmed (37'), while the goal of Amanat Baghdad was scored by Karrar Ali Bari (53').
Squad
New contracts and transfers
New contracts DatePos.NameRef.11AM Abdullah Wasfi16AM Ahmed Mohsin Ashour18ST Salem Ahmed22GK Ali Faisal25DM Sajid Abbas Hashim28CM Hamza Hadi Ahmed33DM Abbas Yas36LB Hassan Odah
Transfers in DatePos.NameFromFeeRef.CB Karrar Mohammed Al-NaftFree transferGK Amjad Rahim Al-NajafFree transferLB Haidar Sari Naft Al-BasraFree transferCB Sebastijan Antić Alittihad MisurataFree transferRW Elson Hooi Al TadhamonFree transferRB Hussein JabbarAl-Minaa Academyn/aST Sajjad AlaaGK Jaafar ShenaishilCM Mohammed KhudhairCB Roderick Miller Al-Quwa Al-JawiyaFree transferCB Abdelhakim Aklidou Ittihad TangerFree transferST Mamadouba Bangoura CS Hammam-LifFree transferCB Karrar Jumaa Naft Al-BasraFree transferDM Mohammed Abdul Zahra Masafi Al-JanoobFree transferAM Ayad Abed Farhan ZakhoFree transferLB Muslim MousaAl-Minaa Academyn/aLW Karrar JaafarLW Daniel WaleedCM Mohammed Abdul Hussein Al-KarkhFree transferCB Abdullah Mohsin Naft Al-BasraFree transferDM Haidar SalemFree transferCB Mohamed Ouattara Al-NaftFree transferAM Dioguinho PaysanduFree transferAM Soufiane Talal Al-ZawraaFree transferGK Mohammed Sabah Al-NasiriyaFree transfer GK Haider Shejaa Al-NaftLoanST Abdullah Abdul Wahed Al-KarkhFree transferDM Hussein Abdul Karim Al-QasimFree transferRW Mohammed Salah Naft Al-BasraFree transferCB Mohammed Abdul-Zahra Al-NajafFree transferST Ghislain Guessan PerakFree transfer
Transfers out DatePos.NameToFeeRef.CM Nasser Al-Gahwashi Naft Al-WasatUndisclosedAM Mehdi Alamah Al-JazeeraFree transferLB Ahmed Yahya Al-ShortaUndisclosedCB Afif Jebali Asaria FC Free transferRB Ahmed MohammedUnattachedReleasedRW Ahmed Jalil HanoonAM Murtadha ShakerCB Bilal Tizi Bouali JS Bordj MénaïelFree transferDM Ousmane Diabaté Olympic AzzaweyaFree transferGK Ali Abdul Hassan Al-KahrabaaFree transferCB Ali Lateef Al-RamadiFree transferST Manar Taha ZakhoFree transferDM Ibrahim Naeem Al-SinaaFree transferGK Murtadha Sami Masafi Al-JanoobFree transferST Mohammed ShokanUnattachedReleasedCB Sebastijan AntićCB Roderick MillerST Mamadouba BangouraGK Amjad RahimRW Elson HooiCB Ahmed Khalid NewrozFree transferAM Ali Shawqi Al-QasimFree transferCB Karrar Mohammed Naft Al-WasatReleasedAM Abdullah Wasfi NewrozDM Sajid Abbas HashimUnattachedDM Mohammed Abdul ZahraCM Mohammed Abdul Hussein GK Mujtaba Mohammed Al-Diwaniya
Personnel Technical staff + Management and staff as of 20 May 2023 Position Name Manager Fareed Majeed Goalkeeping coach Qusay Jabbar Fitness coach Nassir Abdul-Amir Team doctor Fares Abdullah Team supervisor Ali Fadhel
Stadium On December 26, 2022, the Al-Minaa Olympic Stadium was inaugurated by the Ministry of Youth and Sports in preparation for the establishment of the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup, where the tournament will take place on this stadium in addition to the Basra Sports City. The opening included a ceremony in which the retired Al-Minaa stars were honored. After that, a friendly match took place between Al-Minaa and Kuwait, in which Kuwait won 2–1. Ali Hussain (57') and Taha Yassine Khenissi (66') scored the double for Kuwait, and Karrar Mohammed scored for Al-Minaa from a penalty kick in the 89th minute. Despite the completion of the construction of the stadium, the stadium was not handed over to the club to play its matches on it, due to some side deficiencies in it. Therefore, Basra Sports City will remain the temporary stadium for the team this season.
Pre-season and friendlies DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorers16 September 2022Al-ZubairH2–0Ahmed, Hooi 18 September 2022ErbilA0–120 September 2022NewrozA1–1Ashour 22 September 2022Al-Quwa Al-JawiyaN1–2Hooi29 September 2022Naft MaysanH1–0Ahmed2 October 2022Masafi Al-JanoobH2–1Shokan, Wasfi10 October 2022Naft Al-BasraH2–3Farhan, Al-Amir Ali12 October 2022Al-ZubairH4–0Shokan, Wasfi, Alaa, Abbas16 October 2022Al-ZawraaA0–118 October 2022Al-Sinaat Al-KahrabaiyaA1–0Ahmed19 October 2022Al-JolanN 1–1Hadi 21 October 2022Al-EtisalatA 1–1Wasfi 27 October 2022Masafi Al-JanoobH2–0Ahmed, Jaafar2 November 2022SafwanH2–0Bangoura, Aysar27 October 2022Masafi Al-JanoobH2–0Ahmed, Jaafar26 December 2022KuwaitH1–2K.Mohammed 90' (pen.)20 January 2023Al-BahriH0–122 March 2023Al-BahriA0–0
Competitions
Overview
First Division League
Summary table
Matches DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorerspos.19 November 2022DiyalaA0–312th24 November 2022Al-MuroorH3–2Ahmed 42', Wasfi 73', Khalid 87'7th29 November 2022Al-NasiriyaA1–1Ahmed 79'8th4 December 2022Al-JolanH1–0Jaafar 87'4th9 December 2022Al-HusseinH1–0Jaafar 89'2nd14 December 2022Al-SamawaA2–0Alaa 38', Ahmed 90+1'2nd19 December 2022Al-KufaH0–03rdMid-season break for 25th Arabian Gulf Cup28 January 2023AfakH1–1Jaafar 63'3rd2 February 2023Al-SulaikhA2–1Aklidou 70' (pen.), Farhan 80'3rd7 February 2023Masafi Al-WasatH1–0Dioguinho 58'2nd13 February 2023 Al-ShirqatA2–0Alaa 46', Farhan 85' (pen.)1st20 February 2023DiyalaH1–2Farhan 38'2nd25 February 2024Al-MuroorA1–1Alaa 61'2nd2 March 2023Al-NasiriyaH3–0 Farhan 45' (pen.), Ahmed 56', Dioguinho 78'2nd12 March 2024Al-JolanA0–02nd25 March 2023Al-HusseinA0–01st31 March 2023Al-SamawaH2–1Jaafar 26', Ahmed 83'1st5 April 2023Al-KufaA1–1Dioguinho 8'1st10 April 2023Al-ShirqatH5–2Jaafar 28', Farhan 41' (pen.), Ahmed (2) 50', 88', Dioguinho 83'1st21 April 2023AfakA3–0Ahmed 49', Ouattara 60', Dioguinho 90'1st27 April 2023Al-SulaikhH5–0Ahmed (2) 32', 38', Alaa (2) 57', 60', Dioguinho 62'1st2 May 2023Masafi Al-WasatA3–0Salem 22', Ouattara 28', Dioguinho 40'1st2 June 2023Amanat BaghdadH2–1Alaa 6', Ahmed 37'1st
FA Cup
DateRoundOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorers1 November 2022First roundAl-Shabab Al-BasriH3–0Ahmed 16', Khalid 62', Wasfi 90+2'12 November 2022Third roundMasafi Al-JunoobA1–2Hooi 77' (pen.)
Squad statistics
Goalscorers NameFirst Division LeagueFA CupTotal1 18FW Salem Ahmed 11 1 122 39FW Dioguinho 7 0 73 26FW Sajjad Alaa 6 0 64 7MF Ayad Abed Farhan 5 0 5 12FW Karrar Jaafar 5 0 56 11MF Abdullah Wasfi 1 1 2 34DF Mohamed Ouattara 2 0 2 35DF Ahmed Khalid 1 1 29 4DF Abdelhakim Aklidou 1 0 1 9MF Elson Hooi 0 1 1 37MF Haider Salem 1 0 1Own goals000TOTALS 40 4 44 Last updated: 2 June 2023
Clean sheets Rank Nationality NumberName First Division LeagueFA Cup Total1 22 Ali Faisal 8 0 82 21 Amjad Rahim 2 1 33 1 Jaafar Shenaishil 2 0 2TOTALS 12 1 13 Last updated: 2 June 2023
External links Results of Al-Minaa SC on a FIFA.COM
References