An Iraqi oil engineer named Akam gathered information on 30 Iraqi players that play all over Europe. He gave all this information to Iraqs former coach, Wolfgang Sidka to improve the national team. Finally, six of these players went to Erbil Iraq to play with the national team. Between these players is 19 year old Osama Jabbar Rashid.
Osama was born on January 13, 1992, and at the age of 3 he moved from Kirkuk Iraq to Holland. He first started playing soccer at the age of 5 with the club Zob. After that Osama played with Feynoord for 12 years. In his last season with them, he scored 12 goals. Now Osama is playing his first season with the Dutch club FC Den Bosch.
Osama was also a key player for holland U17 in the European Cup 2009. Holland reached the finals against Germany but lost 2-1 after Germany scored at the 119th minute.
Osama is happy with where he is right now, but like every player in the world, he dreams of one day playing for a club in England or Spain. After Osama was asked what player he saw as a role model, he said, “Xabi Alonso, because of his passing and his shot is from high quality. And he touches the ball always 1/2 times.”
When Osama first found out Iraq wanted him to play for them, he thought they were kidding, But when the IFA contacted him he was of course really happy to represent his country. As talking about arriving to Erbil Iraq in june, Osama said, “It felt good. It was nice to see my family again.” And when playing alongside Iraq’s national team players, he stated, “I played with all of them, Younis, Hawar, Qusay, Salam and all the others, but it was pity Nashat wasn’t there. I did well with Hawar, Mustafa Kareem, and Ahmad Ayad.” After playing his first game with Iraq, Osama received an offer from Iran that was willing to pay alot of money, but he didnt accept because he affirmed that, “It’s so far, and i’m still young. It’s better for my development to stay in Holland. But maybe when i’m older.”
The only Iraqi soccer player from Europe that also went to Erbil and knew Osama was Anmar Almubaraki because they played against each other in youth teams.
Osama’s dreams for Iraq soccer are to play in the Asian Cup and World Cup and be a key player in the team. “We want to put Iraq in the news all over the world by performing well and not by war or car bombs or something.”
Mentioning World Cup 2014 qualifications, Osama thinks, “It’s clear that Iraq has some good players, Of course it’s possible for us to qualify for the World Cup, but we have to play as a unit and not as individuals. I hope the coach will make us a good team.”