- The famous scene of the World Cup
In the second round of the group stage of the 1986 Fifa World Cup in Mexico, Iraq challenged Belgium, the "Red Devils of Europe", the final four of the world cup. In the second half, Iraq, already trailing 0-2, scored a goal by Ahmed Radi, wearing the No. 8 shirt, creating a famous World Cup scene. The goal was also Iraq's only goal in World Cup history.
Ahmed Radi's goal
Ahmed Radi in Iraq's match against Belgium
- A legend of Iraqi football
Ahmed Radhi, the youngest player in the 1986 FIFA World Cup Iraq team (at the age of 22), made 121 appearances and scored 62 goals for Iraq in his career, and was elected Asian Footballer of the Year in 1988, the greatest star in the history of Iraqi football.
Ahmed Radi
Unfortunately, the heyday of Iraqi football was entirely under the dictatorship of the Saddam family. As the eldest son of Saddam Hussein, Uday Hussein, who became the president of the Iraqi Football Association at the age of 20 and is known for his absurdity and brutality, treated the Iraqi players with great cruelty to the underperforming Iraqi players, often throwing all the Iraqi teams that lost games into prison and physically torturing them.
The Saddam family that rules Iraq
The absurd and violent Uday-Hussein
As Uday Hussein's favorite player, Ahmed Radi was also often tortured by the moody tyrant. Ahmed Radi jokingly said that he "has three homes, namely his own house, football stadium and prison", Ahmed Radi, who was once punished for practicing shooting at the cement wall for 15 consecutive hours for shooting badly, was punished with whipping his feet six times for making six mistakes in a game (although the executioner, as a Radi fan, the first five were fake hits, but due to Uday's obscenity, the last one was a fierce hand).
Uday receives Radi
In 1997, Ahmed Radi, who was finally able to retire, persisted until the collapse of the Saddam family in 2003. In a ruined and still-war-torn Iraq, Ahmed-Radi has insisted on making his own contribution to Iraqi football and has not fled his dilapidated homeland. In June 2020, Ahmed Radi passed away prematurely due to covid-19.
AFC obituary
As a legendary star in Iraq, it is the greatest regret that he was not born at the right time and did not catch up with the motherland of peace, unity and strength.
Iraq's legendary star