Ahmed Radhi Humaiesh Al-Salehi, ( ar, أحمد راضي هميش الصالحي, 21 April 1964 – 21 June 2020) was an

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 ...

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 played as a forward. Regarded as one of Iraq and Asia's best players of all-time, Radhi scored the only Iraqi goal in the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

during its 1986 edition, a low shot to the corner of the net against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in a 2–1 defeat. He was voted as the Asian Footballer of the Year in 1988.

Club career

Radhi started to make a name for himself after he was forced to switch childhood club Al-Zawraa for new powerhouse Al-Rasheed, the club founded and owned by

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 revolutio ...

's eldest son Uday. Alongside fellow legend Adnan Dirjal, Radhi led the club to reaching the

1988–89 Asian Club Championship The 1988–89 Asian Club Championship was the 8th edition of the annual Asian club football competition hosted by Asian Football Confederation. Al-Sadd of Qatar won the final and became Asian champions for the first time. Qualifying Group round ...

final, losing to Qatari side

Al Sadd Al Sadd Sports Club ( ar, نادي السد الرياضي, lit=Dam Sports Club) is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the city of Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in th ...

on away goals. He later had a four-year spell at

Al-Wakrah Al Wakrah ( ar, الوكرة, al-Wakra) is the capital city of the Al Wakrah Municipality in Qatar. Al Wakrah's eastern edge is the shores of the Persian Gulf and Qatar's capital Doha is situated to the city's immediate north. Governed by Sheikh ...

in Qatar before finishing his career with Al-Zawraa.

International career

Radhi was given his debut for

against

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

on 21 February 1982 by

Ammo Baba Emmanuel Baba Dawud (27 November 1934 – 27 May 2009), better known as Ammo Baba ( ar, عمو بابا, syr, ܥܡܘ ܒܒܐ), was an Iraqi Assyrian football player and coach of the Iraq national football team. He scored the first international ...

, who acknowledged his talent and supported the player in his first years of senior football. Coach Baba however left Radhi out of the 1984 Summer Olympics squad citing a lack of effort by the player.Asian Icons: Ahmed Radhi (Iraq)
- The AFC He then scored 8 goals in World Cup qualification, leading Iraq to a first World Cup finals, in Mexico in 1986. With Iraq he won 2 Arab Cups, 1 Pan-Arab Games & a Gulf Cup, while he also did represent Iraq in the Olympics in 1988, scoring a goal each in games against Zambia and Guatemala. In 1988, he was voted Asian player of the year and 9th best Asian player of the century in 1999.

Personal life

Radhi had three daughters and one son. He fled Iraq in 2006 because of the sectarian violence and moved with his family to the Jordanian capital Amman, but returned to Iraq in 2007 for a career in politics. In October 2007, he was nominated by the opposition

Iraqi Accord Front The Iraqi Accord Front or Iraqi Accordance Front (Arabic: جبهة التوافق العراقية ''Jabhet Al-Tawafuq Al-'Iraqiyah'') also known as Tawafuq is an Iraqi Sunni political coalition created on October 26, 2005 by the Iraqi Islamic Par ...

to the Council of Representatives of Iraq, replacing

Abd al-Nasir al-Janabi Abdul Nasir Karim Yusuf al-Janabi is an Iraqi politician and a former member of the Iraqi Council of Representatives for the Sunni Arab-led Iraqi Accord Front. A Salafist, he was appointed in 2005 to the committee which drafted the constitution o ...

, who had resigned to join the insurgency. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2014 and 2018 elections with the National Alliance, a coalition of Sunni and Shia figures.

Death

Radhi was admitted into Al Nuaman General Hospital in Adhamiyah on 13 June 2020 after contracting

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. He left the hospital only to be readmitted on 18 June after his condition worsened. On 21 June, Radhi was pronounced dead at the age of 56 following complications from

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq The COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). During the pandemic, Iraq reported its first confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infect ...

. Details about his death were later revealed, that he was about to be taken to be treated in

, but delays in finalizing his medical report postponed the proposed flight. However, the death happened after Radhi removed his artificial ventilation to go to the restroom by himself, later on the medical staff found him dead. His resting place is the Karkh Cemetery in Abu Ghraib.

Career statistics

International goals

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

Honours

* Chosen in the Asia's Top 10 Players of the Century list by IFFHS.

References

External links

* * *Ahmed Radhi at https://www.ahmedradhi.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Radhi, Ahmed 1964 births 2020 deaths Sportspeople from Baghdad Association football forwards Iraqi footballers Olympic footballers of Iraq Iraq international footballers FIFA Century Club Footballers at the 1982 Asian Games Footballers at the 1986 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in football Asian Games gold medalists for Iraq Medalists at the 1982 Asian Games 1986 FIFA World Cup players Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Al-Zawraa SC players Al-Rasheed players Al-Wakrah SC players Iraqi Premier League players Qatar Stars League players Iraqi expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Qatar Iraqi expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Asian Footballer of the Year winners Iraqi football managers Al-Shorta SC managers Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya managers Al-Zawraa SC managers Iraqi Accord Front politicians Iraqi sportsperson-politicians Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq Iraqi expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates