Aymen Hussein Ghadhban ( ar, أيمن حسين; born 21 January 1996) is an Iraqi professional footballer who plays as a striker for

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League ( ar, دوري نجوم قطر), or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promoti ...

club Al-Markhiya and the Iraqi national team.

Club career

In 2009, Aymen was spotted as a gifted teenager with his local team and it was because of a local resident who was also a board member at the Al-Alam SC who recommended the player to his club. He played for youth Al-Alam in the provincial league, and for the first team and then moved to Tuz FC, and with no club from

Kirkuk Kirkuk ( ar, كركوك, ku, کەرکووک, translit=Kerkûk, , tr, Kerkük) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located north of Baghdad. The city is home to a diverse population of Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds ...

in the top divisions in the Iraqi league, Aymen took the unorthodox route in his attempts into getting into a top flight of the

Iraqi Premier League The Iraqi Premier League ( ar, الدوري العراقي الممتاز) is the top level of the Iraqi football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it is operated by the Iraq Football Association (IFA) and operates on a system of promotion ...

by signing for Gas Al-Shamal a club which was then in the second tier of the Kurdistan League, a division formed of primarily reserve players from the top Kurdish clubs. At the end of the season 2012–13, Aymen was offered the opportunity to play in the

for the first time when he was contacted by the assistant coach of Duhok,

Khalid Mohammed Sabbar Khalid Mohammed Sabbar is an Iraqi football defender who played for Iraq in the 1996 Asian Cup. Professionally he played for Al Zawra, Al Shorta, Arbil FC, Kirkuk FC Kirkuk Sports Club ( ar, نادي كركوك) is a football club based i ...

and was offered a lucrative contract to play for the club which Aymen said he agreed to immediately amid “great joy” working under the former Iraq captain and the two renowned coaches Syrian

Fajr Ibrahim Fajr Ibrahim ( ar, فجر إبراهيم) is a Syrian football coach and former footballer. Club career Fajr started playing in the Syrian League with Al-Wahda team in 1979. He remained with the club until he retired from the playing. He won ...

and

Thair Ahmed Thair Ahmed (born 1 July 1959) is an Iraqi football coach, who coaches Al-Talaba. Coaching career Ahmed began the 2018-2019 season with leading of Amanat Baghdad for 14 games, then he moved to his glory club Al-Talaba SC. He is coaching th ...

during his spell with

Duhok Duhok ( ku, دهۆک, translit=Dihok; ar, دهوك, Dahūk; syr, ܒܝܬ ܢܘܗܕܪܐ, Beth Nohadra) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It's the capital city of Duhok Governorate. History The city's origin dates back to the Sto ...

. He appeared only a few times for

scoring one goals in the first stage of the season, however with salaries going unpaid for months at the cash-strapped club feeling the full ramifications of the financial crisis which had hit the Kurdistan region, Aymen made the decision to try his luck in Baghdad. He had been one of six players at Duhok released due to their financial troubles during the latter part of the 2014.

Al Naft

Aymen transferred to

Al-Naft Al Naft Sport Club ( ar, نادي النفط الرياضي, lit=''Oil SC'') is an Iraqi professional sports club based in the Adhamiyah District, East Districts of the Tigris River, Baghdad. Their football team plays in the highest division in ...

in winter 2015. His breakthrough season came in the 2016–17 season for Al Naft where he scored 12 goals in 10 games launching Al Naft to the top of the league, before an injury prevented him sidelined all the way from February till May. Al Naft continued on their impressive set of results and ended up finishing as the league runners up, which is their best ever result.

Al Shorta

On 22 August 2017, Hussein signed for Iraqi giants

Al Shorta Al-Shorta Sports Club ( ar, نادي الشرطة الرياضي, lit=''Police Sports Club'') is an Iraqi sports club based in Al-Rusafa, Baghdad. It has teams in 17 different sports, more than any other Iraqi club, and the best known sectio ...

. to replace Marwan Hussein. He made his debut on 21 November, scoring in the matchday one fixture against

Karbalaa FC Karbala Sport Club is an Iraqi football club based in Karbala that plays in the Iraqi Premier League, the top tier of Iraqi football. SWAT Incident On June 23, 2013, after a match against Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, seven football players of Karbala FC a ...

. He scored twice in his second game, a 4–1 win over Al-Bahri, he then scored in two more games, to extend his scoring record to four games in a row. On the fifth game, Aymen missed a last-minute penalty to end his goal-scoring streak. Aymen would then leave the Al-Shorta camp to join the Iraqi U-23 side in the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship in China. After his return he leave the Al Shorta.

Return to Al Naft

On 2 February 2018, he returned to his former club Al-Naft with his favorite coach Hassan Ahmed Aymen started his first match with Al Naft against Al-Hudood FC, he missed a penalty. and another against Naft Al-Wasat. After five games he scored goal against Al-Talaba in the 1–0 victory in April and continued to score. He finished his season with Al Naft with 11 goals in 22 matches in the league. The team finished in 3rd position. he was released from Al-Naft after the game against

CS Sfaxien Club Sportif Sfaxien ( ar, النادي الرياضي الصفاقسي) is a Tunisian professional association football club founded in 1928. History The club was founded in 1928 as ''Club Tunisien'', playing in green and red stripes. The team ...

1–1. because of disagreements.

CS Sfaxien

On 15 September 2018, Tunisian club Sfaxien announced on the last day of the summer

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

the signing of Aymen.

Umm Salal

In the summer 2021, Aymen joined

Umm Salal Umm Salal (; also spelled Umm Slal) is a municipality in the State of Qatar. It contains several historic places, such as Barzan Tower. The municipal headquarters Umm Salal is located in Umm Salal Ali, about 10 km from the coast and 15 ...

in Qatar.

International career

Aymen first represented Iraq in 2015, playing for the U23 Iraqi team. He was called up to the 2016 AFC U-23 Asian cup in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

. He scored the winning goal in the third-place playoff match which won Iraq the bronze medal and sent them to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Aymen was injured in a friendly match against Syria, preventing him from going to the Olympics. The following year, Aymen was present at the

2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification The 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification was an international men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship. A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, includi ...

, he scored 5 goals in the first match against Afghanistan. He also scored another goal against Saudi Arabia, to ensure that Iraq won all three games and qualified for the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship. Aymen scored twice in three games in the tournament, as Iraq went out in the quarter-finals. On 26 August 2015, Aymen earned his first international cap, playing against

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

in a friendly match. He scored his first goal against the UAE on September 5, 2017, in a world cup qualifying match. He was called up to the

23rd Arabian Gulf Cup The 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup ( ar, كأس الخليج العربي‎) was the 23rd edition of the biennial football competition for the eight members of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation. It took place in Kuwait from 22 December 2017 until ...

, where Iraq ended up reaching the semi-finals.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first.''

Style of play

Aymen is seen as the typical complete forward who can play up front. Not seen as the most versatile, but he is a natural goalscorer. While other strikers such as

Mohanad Ali Mohanad Ali Kadhim Al-Shammari ( ar, مهند علي كاظم الشمري, born 20 June 2000), commonly known in Iraq as Mimi ( ar, ميمي), is an Iraqi professional footballer who plays as a forward for Qatari club Al-Sailiya, on loan from ...

score many goals, they are a different types of striker to Aymen, who is good in and around the box in the air and on the ground. He has a powerful right foot. He is also known for his large stature, physical strength and diligence. Since 2015, he is seen as the best heir to former international striker

Younis Mahmoud Younis Mahmoud Khalaf ( ar, يونس محمود خلف; born 3 February 1983) is an Iraqi former professional footballer who played as a forward for the Iraq national football team and is currently the second vice-president of the Iraq Football ...

Personal life

Aymen was born 1996 in the rural village of Al-Safra in the Al-Riyadh sub-district in south-western part of

, the village was situated in the turbulent district of

Hawija Hawija () is the central town of Al-Hawija District in the Kirkuk Province of Iraq, west of Kirkuk, and north of Baghdad. The town has a population of about 100,000 inhabitants. Hawija District has approximately 150,000 inhabitants, mostly pop ...

, which had been controlled by

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

and has been the scene of coalition airstrikes from 2014 to 2017. Insurgents have frequently targeted oil pipelines in the village since the fall of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

in 2003, with daily car bombs and improvised explosive device (IED) blasts a normal part of life for the Aymen. His father, an officer in the

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was known as the Royal Iraqi Army up until the coup ...

, was murdered on duty by an

Al Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

terrorist attack Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

in 2008, His mother and brothers Asser and Laith were internally displaced in the city of Kirkuk. his brother was kidnapped by ISIS and his whereabouts are still unknown, and the player and his family became

Internally displaced An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. A ...

within Iraq. His mother and brothers Asser and Laith were internally displaced in the city of Kirkuk in 2014.

Honours

Club

CS Sfaxien *

Tunisian Cup The Tunisian Cup , officially named the President's Cup, is the official competition of the Cup in Tunisian football and is considered the second most important local title after the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1. The first cup competition was h ...

: 2018-19 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Iraq FA Cup The Iraq FA Cup, known as the Iraq Cup ( ar, كأس العراق) in Arabic, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Iraqi football. First held in the 1948–49 season for clubs and institutions before returning in 1975–76 ...

International

Iraq *

Arabian Gulf Cup The Arabian Gulf Cup ( ar, كأس الخليج العربي, ''Kass Al-Khaleej Al-Arabi''), often referred to simply as the Gulf Cup, is a biennial football competition governed by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation for its eight member nat ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Individual

top scorer:

(22 goals) *

joint top scorer:

(3 goals)

References

External links

* *
Aymen Hussein
at CS Sfaxien {{DEFAULTSORT:Hussein, Aymen 1996 births Living people People from Kirkuk Governorate Iraqi footballers Iraq international footballers Association football forwards Duhok SC players Al-Shorta SC players CS Sfaxien players Umm Salal SC players Al-Markhiya SC players Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Qatar Stars League players Expatriate footballers in Tunisia Expatriate footballers in Qatar Iraqi expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Iraqi expatriate footballers 2019 AFC Asian Cup players