Jiloan Mohammed Hamad Amin Alla Werdi (born 6 November 1990), known as Jiloan Hamad ( ar, جيلوان حمد), is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a winger for Allsvenskan club

Örebro SK Örebro Sportklubb, more commonly known as Örebro SK, Örebro or (especially locally) ÖSK, is a Swedish professional football club based in Örebro. The club are affiliated to Örebro Läns Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Behrn ...

. Born in Azerbaijan and of Iraqi descent, Hamad moved to Sweden and represented their

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

before switching to represent

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

Early and personal life

Hamad was born in Azerbaijan, and is of

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

descent. His family originates from

Ranya Ranya ( ckb, ڕانیە, Ranye, ar, رانية) is a town in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and is part of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate. Geography and climate Ranya City is located in the north east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Ranya is l ...

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also inc ...

. They sought refugee status in both Turkmenistan and Russia before settling in Sweden in 1992, when Jiloan was two years old. Mohammed Hamad, Jiloan's father, was a guerrilla warrior in the Kurdish

peshmerga The Peshmerga ( ku, پێشمەرگه, Pêşmerge, lit=those who face death) is the Kurdish military forces of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Peshmerga, along with their security subsidiaries, ...

for 15 years before fleeing Iraq together with his wife and children.

Club career

BK Forward

Having joined their youth setup aged 14–15, Hamad started his footballing career at the local club

BK Forward Bollklubben forward, commonly known as BK forward, is a football team from Örebro, Sweden. They play in Division 1 Norra. The club plays in a small multipurpose stadium called Trängens IP. The base of the club is in the western end of downtown ...

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

. He debuted in the senior team in 2006, aged 16, when the club competed in the Swedish third tier called Division 1. During the upcoming two seasons, he played 23 competitive games for the club, scoring 8 goals. During this period, he enjoyed a fruitful partnership with

Jimmy Durmaz Jakup Jimmy Durmaz (born 22 March 1989), formerly known as Jimmy Touma, is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Turkish club Fatih Karagümrük. He began his career at BK Forward and moved in 2008 to Malmö FF, where he w ...

, his childhood friend who later would move on to play with him at

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association ...

. Before switching to the

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne ...

n team he was refused by the local club

, with the club citing that Hamad "was too short".

Malmö FF

Hamad came to

from BK Forward in December 2007. He made his Allsvenskan debut on 17 September 2008 in a 0–4-loss against

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

. After only having played one match for the club in 2008, Hamad had a breakthrough in 2009 when he played 20 matches and scored two goals. In 2010, he battled with teammate

for the position as left midfielder. Hamad ended up playing 27 games although only starting in 10, the majority of which were played as right midfielder. In the final game of 2010, he scored the game-winning goal against

Mjällby AIF Mjällby Allmänna Idrottsförening, also known simply as Mjällby AIF, Mjällby or (especially locally) MAIF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Hällevik. The club is affiliated to Blekinge Fotbollförbund and play its ho ...

that secured the title, the day after his 20th birthday. Hamad started the 2011 season with injury problems and missed the start of the season. He recovered and became the natural choice for playing right midfielder after team-mate

Guillermo Molins Guillermo Federico Molins Palmeiro (; born 26 September 1988) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays for Sarpsborg 08. Beginning his career with Malmö FF in 2006, he has gone on to play professionally in Belgium, Spain, China, Greece ...

was sold in the summer transfer window of 2011. Hamad also participated in the club's campaign to qualify for the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League and scored the goal that took the club through to the play-off round after equalizing at home against Rangers. He continued to play in Europe as the club qualified for the group stage of the

2011–12 UEFA Europa League The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with t ...

after losing in the play-off round of the Champions League. During the 2011 season Hamad signed a new contract to the end of the 2013 season. Hamad played all of Malmö FF's 30 league matches during the 2012 season. He also scored six goals which was his best goal production since joining the club. Hamad was also given the captaincy for the majority of the team's matches. Former captain Daniel Andersson had stepped down to focus on coaching duties before the beginning of the season and new captain

Ulrich Vinzents Ulrich Vig Vinzents (born 4 November 1976) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Club career In Denmark Born in Ringsted, Vinzents started his professional career at Lyngby Boldklub however with a limited amou ...

received limited time on the pitch. The 2013 season was Hamad's first and only season as full-time captain for the club. In total he played 28 matches and scored eight goals in the league. He also played all matches for the club during the qualification stage for the

2013–14 UEFA Europa League The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title. The 2014 UEFA Europa League Final was played between Sevilla and Benfica at th ...

and scored two goals. Some of his goals in the early part of the season was match-deciding, on 14 April 2013 he scored the only goal of the game in the home fixture against

Kalmar FF Kalmar Fotbollförening, more commonly known as Kalmar FF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Kalmar. The club is affiliated to Smålands Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Guldfågeln Arena. Formed on 15 June 1910, the cl ...

, one week later he made the same accomplishment in the away fixture against

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

. Malmö FF secured the title one round before the competition of the league and Hamad could raise

Lennart Johanssons Pokal Lennart Johanssons Pokal is a trophy awarded annually by the Swedish Football Association to the winning team of the Swedish top division, Allsvenskan. The winner of Allsvenskan is also crowned Swedish Champions. The trophy was introduced in 2001 ...

on 3 November 2013 after a last home win against Syrianska FC. His last match for the club was the 2013 Svenska Supercupen against

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

which Malmö FF won 3–2. For his performances in the

2013 Allsvenskan The 2013 Allsvenskan, part of the 2013 Swedish football season, was the 89th season of Allsvenskan since its establishment in 1924. The 2013 fixtures were released on 14 December 2012. The season started on 31 March 2013 and ended on 3 November ...

season he won midfielder of the year and was also nominated for most valuable player of the year.

1899 Hoffenheim

On 30 October 2013,

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V., or simply TSG 1899 Hoffenheim or just Hoffenheim () is a German professional football club based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg. Originally founded in 189 ...

confirmed the free transfer of Jiloan Hamad to the club with a contract until 2017. The transfer went through on 1 January 2014 when the German transfer window opened. During the same spring he played 8 competitive games for his new side. After attracting a serious injury during his loan spell at

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

in 2015, he made his comeback for Hoffenheim in a

fixture against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

on 23 January 2016, in which he scored the first goal in a 1–1 draw.

Standard Liège

In late January 2015, he was loaned to Belgian first tier side

for the remainder of the 2014–2015 season. He played 6 competitive games for the side, scoring once, before injuring his knee in late March 2015, effectively ending his season.

Hammarby IF

He returned to his native country on 7 February 2017, signing a two-year deal (with an option for a further) with the Stockholm-based side Hammarby IF. Hamad scored two goals in three games as Hammarby got knocked out in the group stage of the

2016–17 Svenska Cupen The 2016–17 Svenska Cupen was the 61st season of Svenska Cupen and the fifth season with the current format. The winners of the competition will earn a place in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League#Second qualifying round, second qualifying round of ...

. On 3 April, the first match day of Allsvenskan 2017, he contributed with an assist to Rômulo's 2–1-goal in an away loss against IFK Norrköping. He scored a brace for his side in a 2–1 away win against Halmstad on 14 May. Hamad scored his first home goal at

Tele2 Arena The Stockholmsarenan, known as the Tele2 Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Stockholm Globe City, Johanneshov, just south of Stockholm City Centre, Sweden. It is used mostly for concerts and football ma ...

on 13 August 2017, from the penalty spot in a 2–2 draw against

Östersund Östersund (; sma, Staare) is an urban area (city) in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-largest lake, Storsjön, ...

Incheon United

On 29 January 2019, Hamad signed with

Incheon United Incheon United FC is a South Korean professional football club based in Incheon that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. Founded in 2003, the club is a so-called "community club", with the government of the city ...

in the

K League 1 The K League 1 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in 1 ...

. On 23 July 2019 Jiloan Hamad parted ways with Incheon by mutual consent.

International career

Having been born in Azerbaijan, Hamad was able to represent both

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

and Sweden.

Sweden

Under-21

Hamad was a member and also for some time the captain of the Sweden U21 national side. On 7 September 2010, Hamad scored a

last-minute goal The term "last-minute goal" is used in sport, primarily association football, to describe a goal scored very late in a game, usually one that affects the outcome of the game. The definition of a "last-minute goal" commonly used is one scored either ...

for the 1–0 away win against Bulgaria U21 in a 2011 UEFA Euro U-21 Championship qualifier. In early 2011, Hamad revealed that he had rejected an offer from Azerbaijan coach Berti Vogts to play for his country of birth.

Senior

Hamad was first with the Sweden squad for the 2011 January training tour and played his first cap for Sweden during this tour. His first cap for Sweden was against

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

on 19 January 2011. Hamad was once again selected for the annual training camp for the Sweden national team in January 2012. The squad selection for the camp traditionally features the best Swedish players in domestic and other Scandinavian leagues. He was selected for the friendly against England on 14 November, but did not get any playing time, and was then again selected for the winter tour in 2013. After a five year absence, Hamad was called up to the Swedish squad for the training tour in January 2018. He made his return on the pitch in a 1–1 draw against

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

, where several pundits praised Hamad's performance and voted him as the best player on the pitch.

Iraq

Hamad was reported to be called up by Iraq in October 2018 though he declined to comment. He was not called into Sweden's squad in December 2018. On 26 February 2019, Hamad announced that he would represent the Iraq national team and "help the team reach new heights" from February 2019 and onward.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Malmö FF * Allsvenskan: 2010,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Svenska Supercupen Svenska Supercupen, ''Swedish Super Cup'', was a one-off fixture in Swedish football played between the Allsvenskan champions and the winners of Svenska Cupen. The fixture was played in November, after the Allsvenskan season. In the event of a ...

Individual * Allsvenskan midfielder of the year:

References

External links

Malmö FF profile

Jiloan Hamad
at Swedish Football Association * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamad, Jiloan Living people 1990 births Footballers from Baku Iraqi footballers Swedish footballers Association football wingers Iraq international footballers Sweden youth international footballers Sweden under-21 international footballers Sweden international footballers Swedish people of Iraqi descent Swedish people of Kurdish descent BK Forward players Malmö FF players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players Standard Liège players Hammarby Fotboll players Incheon United FC players HNK Gorica players Örebro SK players Allsvenskan players Bundesliga players K League 1 players Belgian First Division A players Croatian Football League players Superettan players Kurdish sportspeople Swedish expatriate footballers Iraqi expatriate footballers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium Iraqi expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Croatia Dual internationalists (football)