| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Aladdin Ahmad Khudhair | ||
| Date of birth | (1952-05-25)25 May 1952 (age 72) | ||
| Place of birth | Basra,Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1971–1988 | Al-Minaa | ||
| International career | |||
| 1972–1979 | Iraq military | ||
| 1972–1973 | Iraq U20 | ||
| 1973–1975 | Iraq U23 | ||
| 1973–1980 | Iraq | (1) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Aladdin Ahmad Khudhair (Arabic:عَلَاء الدِّين أَحْمَد خُضَير; born May 25, 1952), simply known asAlaa Ahmad, is anIraqi formerfootballer. He played as amidfielder and spent the majority of his career withAl-Minaa.
Alaa started his career with Tarbiyat Al Basra team side in his birthplace ofBasra, under the close supervision of international referee Sami Naji[1] in 1952 and played football in school teams before he represented Al Basra team in 1971, at the age of 19, and then the Al Moshah team (one of the premier's league teams then). After two seasons he went back to his hometown where he started playing for Al-Inaa which he continued with until his retirement.
His international journey began in 1973 withIraq national under-20 football team, which consisted of great players from the national team participating in thePalestine Cup of Nations which was held inLibya, and he played his debut match againstUnited Arab Emirates where on which time the Iraqi team won 3–1. He was then invited to join the national team and he played his international debut match againstTunisia inAl-Shaab Stadium and the match concluded with a 0–0 draw. After his debut he played 54 other matches. Some of them were the1974 Asian Games which were held inTehran,Pestabola Merdeka in 1977 and 1978,5th Arabian Gulf Cup in Baghdad in 1979 andMoscow Olympics in 1980.[2]
Alaa was part of the1977 World Men's Military Cup alongside the likes of captainDouglas Aziz andAli Kadhim. The midfielder was one of the star players at Basra based club that includedRahim Karim,Jalil Hanoon and the Ahmed brothersHadi andAbdul-Razzaq. After making his debut, he became a regular in the Iraqi national team alongside his Al-Minaa team-mate Hadi Ahmad, helping Iraq to win the5th Arabian Gulf Cup inBaghdad and the1979 World Men's Military Cup.
He was an important part of theAl-Minaa side that won its first Iraqi league title in1977–78 season. In 1980, he represented Iraq in its first Olympic appearance inMoscow playing in all 4 games againstCosta Rica,Finland andYugoslavia and in the 2nd round, where they lost 4–0 to evidential finalistsEast Germany.[3]
Among his coaches were Sami Naji,Ammo Baba, Thamir Muhsin,Jamal Salih, the Yugoslavian coachGaga, and the Scottish coachDanny McLennan.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 17 July 1978 | KLFA Stadium,Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia |  Indonesia | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1978 Pestabola Merdeka |
