A technical meeting to discuss the future of the Iraqi youth team

Yesterday, Sunday, a meeting was held between the member of the Iraqi Football Association, the supervisor of the Iraqi youth team, Muhammad Nasser, the coach of the national team, Imad Muhammad, and the technical director of the English Football Association, John Whittle, at the headquarters of the federation, to discuss the future of the team in the next stage.

Member of the Federation, Muhammad Nasser, said in statements transmitted by the Iraqi Football Association that working with the teams is difficult, as the coach comes to work with a player who lacks many basic skills, especially age groups, so we need to develop work, and we seek to create special stadiums for the teams, and this needs support It is not reasonable for a national team player to train in unfit and non-private stadiums.

He added: With regard to the Iraqi youth team, we have a plan to develop the age group teams, including the youth team. After the Turkey camp, we obtained preliminary approvals to hold a four-way championship in Iraq with the teams of Portugal, South Korea and Egypt, and we are waiting for official approvals in this regard, and we are seeking in the Executive Office of the Football Association to host our national team’s group in the Asian qualifiers in Iraq.

For his part, Whittle emphasized: We must work in the next stage within a single philosophy for the Iraqi teams from the age of 14 to the first team. I demanded the Minister of Youth and the President of the Federation, Adnan Darjal, that the coaches of the national and Olympic teams be selected from those working in Iraq so that the players can be seen closely in their clubs, and that they be together as I live in Iraq now.

Whittle pointed out the need to pay attention to talent schools in Iraq to be a catalyst for supporting the teams with talented players, and for the coaches to be monitored for those schools, and the youth team should play matches at a high level and not at the level of clubs, especially in Iraq, as it serves to lift the ban, and that strong camps in Europe and South America, with African teams should be provided.

For his part, the coach of the youth team, Imad Mohamed, explained: The coach, Whittle, demanded that our teams be competitive with the advanced countries in football, but our team does not have its own stadium, and our players in this category lack the basics of football, and all the clubs to which the players belong lack a fitness coach. Physically, when they train with the national team they do not have enough fitness, and we also lack a special room to explain plans and what is happening in the matches and explain technical cases, in addition to the criteria for selecting coaches for age groups in clubs in order to develop performance.

At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that an international company would be contracted to analyze the players’ data, and the need to address the clubs to find or establish a database for all players in order to provide it to all the training devices working with the teams, and to find quick solutions regarding stadiums for the Iraqi teams, with the need for the devices to communicate with Whittle to continue developing the work. The fifteenth of this month was set as a date to resume training for the youth team in preparation for the quadruple championship, which is hoped to take place at the end of next month.