The butcher of the Rafidain Lions.. the basketball player who became the best Asian striker
One of the legends of Iraqi football, the butcher, who was ranked by the Asian Confederation as one of the best strikers in the Asian Cup, as he scored in 4 editions of the tournament, started as a basketball player and ended with one of the best strikers of the Lions of Mesopotamia, Asia and the Arabs in football.
He is the star Younis Mahmoud Khalaf Al-Owaidi, who was born in the town of Dibs in the Kirkuk governorate on February 18, 1979. His father played football in addition to his work as a policeman. Younis began his sports career as a basketball player, and his football career began in 1996 AD when he was 13 years old, in which he played in the ranks of the Kirkuk team in the center of the attack, and due to his distinction, he was included in the Iraqi Student Club, and played in its ranks for the first time against his first club Kirkuk and managed to score 3 goals to achieve with his team in that season the league and cup double.
Younis Mahmoud played in the Iraqi under-19 team, then moved to the under-22 team before moving to the first team in 2002 and continued with him until 2016. He participated for the first time in the Olympic Games held in Athens in 2004 AD, and he and his colleagues were able to win In the opening match against the Portuguese national team, which included in its ranks at the time the elite of the world’s stars.
Younes managed with the Lions of Rafidain to top his group and qualify for the quarter-finals, and beat the Australian team before losing in the semi-finals to Paraguay, and the Iraqi team ranked fourth in the tournament after losing to the Italian team 0-1, in the match that was held to determine the bronze medal winner. And that session was the beginning of the brilliance of the Iraqi star, as his performance in that session helped him move to many Qatari clubs.
Younis Mahmoud’s football career was characterized by a large number of transfers, where he played with Kirkuk, Iraq from 1999 to 2001, then the Iraqi Tabba from 2001 to 2003, during which he played 33 games and scored 21 goals, then he moved to the Emirati Al-Wihda on loan for a year from 2003 to 2004, he fought with it 26 games and he scored 19 goals, to return to the Iraqi students in the 2004/05 season, from which he moved to Al-Khor Al-Qatari in July 2005 and until June 2006, he played 49 games with him and scored 38 goals.
Younis moved in 2006 to the Qatari Al Gharafa, who starred in his ranks during 5 seasons, and played for it 95 games, during which he scored 72 goals, and achieved the title of top scorer in the Qatar Stars League 2007. This period included a short loan to the Qatari club Al Arabi from 2008 to 2009, he played 6 matches and scored two goals, then returned again to the Qatari Gharafa, and in 2011 Younis Mahmoud moved to the Qatari Al-Wakra for a year, during which he played 33 games, scoring 14 goals, and in 2013 he moved to the Qatari Al-Sadd in a short experience for six months, during which he played 7 games and scored two goals, and in the same year he moved to Al-Ahly Al-Saudi, where he played 6 matches and scored 3 goals, to return from it to Iraq from the Erbil gate in the 2014/2015 season, and from there he moved to Al-Talaba 2015/2016, with which he ended his football career, where he participated with him in 22 matches and 3 goals.
During his football career, Younis Mahmoud achieved many achievements and championships, the most important of which is reaching fourth place in the 2004 Asian Cup final in China, and with Al-Khor Club of Qatar, he scored the fastest goal in both the Qatar Cup and League for the 2003/2004 football season, as well as winning the award for the best player in the Asian Cup for the year 2007 AD, when Iraq achieved its first and only championship title, winning the Giacinto Facchetti International Prize, and also won the Qatar League title on more than one occasion with more than one club, and achieved many achievements and championships with the Iraqi
national team: winning the West Asian Football Championship in 2002, reaching the fourth place in the 2004 Olympic Games, winning the gold medal for the West Asian Games 2005, winning the gold medal for the 2006 Asian Games, winning the 2007 Asian Cup, winning second place in the Gulf Nations Cup 2013.
On the individual level, Younis Mahmoud won several titles during his career and was nominated for other titles, most notably: the best player in Iraq in the 1997/1998 season, the youngest player to play in the Iraqi national team, the top scorer in the Iraqi league in the 1998/1999 season with 19 goals, the top scorer in the Asian Cup qualifiers 2004 with 7 goals, best scorer in the Qatari league for 3 seasons, and was nominated as the best Arab player and best Asian player for the year 2006 AD, and was also nominated as the best young player in the continent of Asia in the 2003/2004 season, and was voted as one of the best 5 players in the same season.