Peter Saeed Easho Murad () (born 1928) is a former international Iraqi football player, who was one of the first players to play in first

Iraq national football team The Iraq national football team ( ar, منتخب العراق لكرة القدم) represents Iraq in international football and is controlled by the Iraq Football Association (IFA), the governing body for football in Iraq. Iraq's usual home ...

, he also played for Al-Minaa, and with the reserve team of English club Manchester United during the 1960s.

Early years

Saeed Easho was the son of an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

priest, who had settled in the city of

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

in the early 20th century from the heart of the old

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Saeed excelled at football at his primary school in the district of Al-Ashar and at Thanawiya Al-Basra and was chosen to play for the Basra Select side while in school, taking on

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

sides based in the city during

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He had left the country to study but returned to work as a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

for the

Basra Petroleum Company Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

(B.P.C.) and the Al-Minaa Club.

International career

In April 1951, Easho started playing for the first

, He was called by coach Dhia Habib to play in the first

international friendly An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

in the history of Iraqi football. On 6 May 1951, Saeed played his first international against Turkey B in Turkey, which ended 7–0 for Turkey B.

Travel and play for Man. United

After the Iraqi team return to

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

, Easho and his friend the player Percy Lynsdale left to study abroad, as well as he spent one year with the reserve team of English club Manchester United during the 1960s.

Honours

Club

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 ...

** Winner 1948–49 with

Sharikat Naft Al-Basra Sharikat Naft Al-Basra ( ar, فريق شركة نفط البصرة, lit=Basra Petroleum Company), known as BPC for short, was an Iraqi football team based in Basra. They became Iraq's first ever national cup winners when they won the 1948–49 Ir ...

References

External links

Iraq – Record International Players – Hassanin Mubarak

Al-Minaa Club: Sailors of south
{{DEFAULTSORT:Easho, Saeed 1928 births Living people Iraqi footballers Association football defenders Al-Mina'a SC players Sportspeople from Basra Iraqi people of Turkish descent Iraqi Christians Iraq international footballers Expatriate footballers in England Manchester United F.C. players Assyrian footballers