Sherko Karim Lateef Gubari ( ar, شيركو كريم لطيف, ; born 25 May 1996) is an Iraqi 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 plays as a
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
for
Kuwait Premier League
The Kuwait Premier League (), known as STC Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Kuwait football pyramid system. Formed in 1961, Al-Arabi, Qadsia and Kuwait both hold the best record in the competition, having won ...
club
Kuwait SC
Kuwait Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الكويت الرياضي) is a Kuwaiti professional association football, football club based in Kuwait City. The football team has won Kuwaiti Premier League 17 times. Kuwait SC also has over 50 trophies ...
.
Early life
Born in
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, ...
, Karim made his first steps on the fields of local
Al-Thawra SC
Al-Thawra Sport Club ( ar, نادي الثورة الرياضي) is an Iraqi football team based in Kirkuk, that plays in Iraq Division Two.
History
Early years
Al-Thawra club was founded in 1955 under the name Al-Faisaly Club in relation to Ki ...
in his home city. He was discovered by Iraqi U-17 coach Muwafaq Hussein on one of his scouting trips scouring for new talent around the country, and after watching him, he quickly called him up to play for his side, and shortly after, moved to Baghdad to play for
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 ...
. It was after the U-16s qualified for the
2012 AFC U-16 Championship
The 2012 AFC U-16 Championship was the 15th edition of the tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation. The AFC approved Iran as hosts of the championship on 23 November 2011.
that Iraqi clubs began clamouring for his signature, with
Erbil SC
Erbil Sports Club ( ar, نادي أربيل الرياضي, ) is a sports club based in the city of Erbil, Kurdistan Region that plays in the Iraqi Premier League, the first-tier of Iraqi football. The club is also known as "Yaney Hewlêr", the ...
one of the favourites to sign the striker but instead he moved south to the Iraqi capital to start his career in the top division, and after an initial offer from
Al-Karkh
Karkh or Al-Karkh (Arabic: الكرخ) is historically the name of the western half of Baghdad, Iraq, or alternatively, the western shore of the Tigris River as it ran through Baghdad. The eastern shore is known as Al-Rasafa.
Karim came to prominence at
Arab Cup U-17
The Arab Cup Under 17 () is an international football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations, contested by the national teams under 17 in the Arab World. The first edition was in 2011.
Winners
Successful national te ...
in Tunisia in 2012, where he picked up awards for the best player and top scorer at the 2012 Arab Youth Championship on the back of his seven goals in Tunis. After the competition the striker was offered a professional contract by three of Tunisia's premier clubs Espérance,
Club Africain
Club Africain ( ar, النادي الإفريقي) is a Tunisian football club based in Tunis that competes in the Tunisian Championship. It fields several sports teams, including football, handball, basketball, swimming and volleyball. The foot ...
and
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 ...
. Karim also had interest from Saudi club
Al-Nassr
Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yello ...
and was one of four players from the Under 17s who Russian club
Anzhi Makhachkala
Football Club Anzhi Makhachkala (russian: link=no, Футбо́льный клуб «Анжи́» Махачкала́, ), known simply as FC Anji, was a Russian professional football club based in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala. Founded ...
looked out during the 2013 AFC U-17 qualifying rounds in Duhok.
Club career
Al-Shorta
Karim signed his first senior contract with Al-Shorta on 30 December 2011 at the age of just 15. He was given the number 33 shirt and scored his first goal for Al-Shorta against
Al-Minaa
Al-Minaa Sports Club ( ar, نادي الميناء الرياضي, lit=Port Sports Club) is an Iraqi multi-sport club based in Al-Maqal, Basra that participates in the Iraq Division One, the second tier of Iraqi football. It is one of the mo ...
with a header in a 3–0 win on 24 June 2012. He was given the number 7 shirt at the start of the 2012–13 season and he won the league with Al-Shorta that season. He scored twice in the 2013–14 season against
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya ( ar, نادي القوة الجوية الرياضي, lit=Air Force Club) is an Iraqi sports club based in Rusafa District, Baghdad that competes in the Iraqi Premier League, the top-flight of Iraqi football. Founded in 1931 ...
and
Baghdad FC
Amanat Baghdad Sport Club ( ar, نادي أمانة بغداد الرياضي, lit=Mayoralty of Baghdad) is a football team based in Karkh District, Baghdad, Iraq, that competes in the Iraq Division One, the second tier of Iraqi football. For ...
.
Ajax trial
In 2013 after Karim scored two goals in an AFC Youth Championship qualifier against Bangladesh in
Erbil
Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000.
Hu ...
, which Iraq won 6–0, the opponent's Dutch coach Rene Koster was full of praise for the Iraq Under 19s, and told the gathering media that the Iraqi team “deserved the victory, deserving for being cognate as a group, playing at home, in front of their fans, and playing in a similar way to Barcelona”. Karim caught the eye of the Dutch coach, and he was quickly on the phone to one club back in the Netherlands to inform them about the No.7 of Iraq.
On 13 October 2013, after the last day of the qualifying stages, his coach Muwafaq Hussein confirmed to the Iraqi media that Karim had received a formal offer of a two-week trial from Dutch club
Ajax Amsterdam
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...
through Bangladesh's coach Koster who also worked as a coach at the Ajax Football Academy. The Iraqi coach added that Karim's club would make a decision on holding talks to agree on the details of the transfer but the player was unable to travel to Amsterdam due to visa issues.
Move to Europe
At the end of 2014, Karim finally received his visa and flew to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and had trials at French clubs
Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
,
Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...
,
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
and
AS Monaco
Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Fre ...
, where it was reported that he was close to signing a deal, though an Iraqi journalist claimed Monaco pulled out of a three-year deal.
In February 2015, Karim signed a two and a half-year contract with Swiss club
Grasshopper Club Zürich
Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper holds the ...
and went straight into their youth side. He made his competitive debut in a 5–3 win over
FC Thun
Fussballclub Thun 1898 is a Swiss football team from the Bernese Oberland town of Thun. The club plays in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of the Swiss football league system, following relegation from the Swiss Super League in the ...
in the
2015–16 Swiss Super League
The 2015–16 Swiss Super League, also known as Raiffeisen Super League for sponsoring purposes, was the 119th season of top-tier football in Switzerland. Basel were the defending champions.
A total of 10 teams competed in the league, the 9 bes ...
, coming on as a substitute wearing the number 25 shirt. In 2016 Karim scored a goal in the final of the 79th edition of the Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup in Zürich in a 2–0 victory of English club
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
and was awarded the Adidas Golden Ball as the competition's best player.
In July 2017, Karim signed for
FC Vaduz
FC may refer to:
Businesses, organisations, and schools
* Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India
* Finncomm Airlines (IATA code)
* FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC
* Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...
on loan from Grasshopper Club Zürich to get more playing time.
Back to Iraq
In the 2019 summer transfer window, Karim returned to his former club
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 ...
His delay in Karim making his full international debut centred around the striker's clash with the FA and his U-19 coach while he was with the Iraq youth side in
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
when Karim had been selected to play at the
2014 AFC U-19 Championship
The 2014 AFC U-19 Championship was the 38th edition of the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for players aged 19 and below. Myanmar were approved as hosts of the competition on 25 ...
. In the second half of the group game against Qatar when his coach
Rahim Hameed
Abdul-Rahim Hameed Aufi (born 23 May 1963) is an Iraqi football forward who played for Iraq in the 1986 FIFA World Cup. He also played for Al-Jaish.
Rahim Hamed was a prolific goalscorer who was leading goalscorer in the Iraqi league for three ...
turned to bring the young forward on, but was told by his two assistants that Karim had left the bench and was sitting in the stands! The player insisted he had informed the two coaching assistants that he was not in the right state of mind to play and later claimed he was physically assaulted by the coach after the game for what was perceived as his obdurate stance. Karim had been waiting in the city of
Erbil
Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000.
Hu ...
for a visa to fly to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
for trials with several clubs when he was called up by the Iraq FA. Before the youth tournament the player had been told he would be suspended and his ITC clearance would not be released wrecking any move to Europe if he refused a call-up from the Iraq U-19s side. Karim swiftly made himself available and arrived a day before they departed.
On the eve of the final 2016 Olympic qualifying round in Doha in January 2016, Karim left the team after his club refused to allow him to take part.
Career statistics
:''Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Karim goal''.
Honors
Al-Shorta
*
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 ...
:
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
*
Iraqi Super Cup
The Iraqi Super Cup ( ar, كأس السوبر العراقي), previously called Iraqi Perseverance Cup ( ar, كأس المثابرة العراقي), is Iraqi football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Iraqi Premier ...
:
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
Kuwait SC
*
Kuwait Super Cup
The Kuwait Super Cup ( ar, كأس السوبر الكويتي) is an annual one-match association football competition in Kuwait organised by Kuwait Football Association (KFA). This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the ...
:
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
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 ...