Sahib Abbas Hassan ( ar, صاحب عباس حسين; born 3 November 1969) is an Iraqi former 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 le ...

who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. He represented

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 Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

at the

1996 Asian Cup The 1996 AFC Asian Cup was the 11th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in the United Arab Emirates between 4 and 21 Decem ...

, and also played for various clubs in Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain, and Syria. The player's tally of 177 goals in 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 ...

is an all-time record.

Club career

Sahib Abbas was considered one of the best Iraqi strikers of his generation. After beginning his career at

Karbalaa Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorat ...

, Abbas moved to Salahaddin in 1991, playing as the main-choice striker. In 1993 he moved to

Al-Zawraa Al-Zawraa Sports Club ( ar, نادي الزوراء الرياضي) is an Iraqi sports club based in Utayfia, Karkh District (near Tigris River), Baghdad. Their football team compete in the Iraqi Premier League, the top-flight of Iraqi footbal ...

—where he made his name—helping the club, featuring the likes

Hussam Fawzi Hussam Fawzi Naji (born 3 September 1974) is an Iraqi football manager and former player who played as a forward. He was the captain of the Iraq national team. Playing career Hussam was a leader of the Iraqi strikeforce capable of moments of ...

and

Essam Hamad Essam Hamad Salem ( ar, عصام حمد سالم; born 22 October 1973) is an Iraqi football coach and former player. He played as a midfielder for Iraq in the 2000 Asian Cup. Essam also played for Al-Karkh, Al-Taawun, and Al-Zawraa at club le ...

, to two consecutive league and cup doubles in 1995 and 1996. In 1998, he joined top Lebanese club Al-Nejmeh, playing there for a season without hitting the headlines. After an unimpressive season with the ‘Reds’, he joined lowly club

Salam Zghorta Salam Zgharta Football Club ( ar, نادي السلام الرياضي زغرتا, lit=Zgharta Peace Sporting Club), known as Salam Zgharta or simply Salam, is a football club based in Zgharta, Lebanon, that competes in the . Founded in 1933 ...

in 1999, a team battling to keep its 1st division status. Thanks to Sahib’s devastating performances the club avoided relegated with Sahib scoring 14 goals in 22 games, quite an achievement considering the team only scored 32 goals all season. After becoming Lebanese joint top scorer with Al-Ansar’s Brazilian Toninho Cruz, winning the Golden Boot, he returned to Iraq and joining Al-Talaba, winning a league and cup double in 2002. He continued to play for clubs in Jordan, Bahrain and Syria and in 2012, Sahib finally hung up his boots with his home city club Karbala finishing his career with a record 177 Iraqi league goals.

International career

Abbas was a member of the

squad and the 1998 World Cup qualifying team.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Abbas goal.''

Honours

Al-Zawra *

: 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96 *

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 ...

: 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1997–98 Al-Talaba *

: 2001–02 *

: 2001–02 Al-Ahli Manama *

Bahraini King's Cup The King's Cup is Bahrain's premier knockout tournament in men's football. The national cup has had many different names over the years. Emir Cup (1952–59 & 1978–2002), Federation Cup (1960–77) and King's Cup (2003–present). Previous ...

: 2003 Al-Shabab Manama *

: 2004 Individual * Lebanese Premier League top goalscorer: 1999–2000 *

top goalscorer: 2005–06 Records *

all-time goalscorer: 177 goals

Notes

Bibliography

References

External links

* * * *
Sahib Abbas
at Eurosport.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbas, Sahib 1969 births Living people People from Karbala Iraqi footballers Association football forwards Al-Jamahir SC players Karbalaa FC players Salahaddin FC players Al-Zawraa SC players Nejmeh SC players Salam Zgharta FC players Al-Hussein SC (Irbid) players Al-Talaba SC players Al-Ahli Club (Manama) players Al-Shabab Club (Manama) players Afrin SC players Al-Sinaa SC players Al-Hindiya SC players Iraqi Premier League players Lebanese Premier League players Jordanian Pro League players Bahraini Premier League players Iraq international footballers 1996 AFC Asian Cup players Lebanese Premier League top scorers Iraqi expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Lebanon Expatriate footballers in Jordan Expatriate footballers in Bahrain Expatriate footballers in Syria Iraqi expatriate sportspeople in Lebanon Iraqi expatriate sportspeople in Jordan Iraqi expatriate sportspeople in Bahrain Iraqi expatriate sportspeople in Syria