Nizar Abdul Zahra
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nizar Abdul Zahra Khalaf | ||
| Date of birth | 1 July 1961 | ||
| Place of birth | Al Ashar, Basra, Iraq | ||
| Date of death | 15 May 2006 (aged 44) | ||
| Place of death | Al Maqal, Basra, Iraq | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1974–1979 | Al Waleed | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1980–1993 | Al-Mina'a | (41) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1994–2002 | Al-Mina'a U-16 | ||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Nizar Abdul Zahra Khalaf (1 July 1961 – 15 May 2006), nicknamed (Maradona of Al-Minaa), was a Iraqi footballer who played forward. He spent the majority of his career with Al-Minaa club.
Playing for Al-Mina'a
Nizar began playing in the People's Al-Ashar difference in the area, and after that he saw the coach Jamil Hanoon chosen to play at the club in 1980, has remained plays for his team even retired from playing in 1993.[1]
Coaching Exercise
Nizar after he retired, he began to exercise training as an assistant coach, accompanied coach Jalil Hanoon, where they were technical staff to Al-Mina'a U-16, and have achieved good results.[2]
Administrative work
With the change that took place after the invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam in 2003, a number of ancient players of Al-Minaa team met and decided to restore the team to its normal position to be among the top clubs in the Iraqi Premier League, Nizar was one of those, where he became the administrative supervisor of the team, and during that period the team won the runner-up in the league, and qualified to play in AFC Champions League.[3]
The Assassination
On Monday, 15 May 2006, Nizar was out of the Al Mina'a Stadium after the team's training, in 15:00 GMT, which is preparing to travel with your team to Kuwait, where taking place match Al-Mina'a against Al-Hilal within the 2006 AFC Champions League, and was assassinated by unidentified gunmen riding in a white Mazda car, within suspicious campaign to kill sportsmen in Iraq.[4]
Sporting events in honor of the late player
ِOn 15 May 2007 Al-Minaa Club celebrated the anniversary of the first anniversary of the death of the player to establish a friendly match between the pioneer players of the club.[5] and on 3 March 2013 the Martyr Al-Hakim Foundation for youth and sport and in collaboration with The youth and sport province of Basra established sports championship football on behalf of the players: Nizar Abdul Zahra and Ali Al Diwan, the first match was among the pioneers of Al-Zawraa team led by Falah Hassan and pioneers of Al-Minaa team led by Jalil Hanoon, where 36 teams participated in this tournament.[6]
References
- ↑ Al-Basri, Abdul Jabbar (15 May 2007). "A year after his death, the masses proudly recalls the martyr Nizar". Iraqi Sport Newspaper (Arabic edition). Retrieved 15 May 2007.
- ↑ An Nahi, Rowan (24 March 2006). "Maradona of Al-Minaa opens his heart to Al-Malaeb and talking about "Blue" ambitions". Al-Malaeb Newspaper (Arabic edition). Retrieved 24 March 2006.
- ↑ Al-Maiyahi, Ali (12 August 2005). "Nizar Abdul Zahra: Winning the league title is not difficult". Al Ashar Newspaper (Arabic edition). Retrieved 12 August 2005.
- ↑ Al-Hamadi, Mohammed (17 May 2006). "The assassination of Nizar Abdul Zahra supervisor of Al-Minaa team". Al-Ittihad Newspaper (Arabic edition). Retrieved 17 May 2006.
- ↑ Abdul Hassan, Haider (15 May 2007). "Al-Minaa administration is celebrating the first anniversary of the death of Nizar Abdul Zahra". Al-Mutmar Newspaper (Arabic edition). Retrieved 15 May 2007.
- ↑ Al-Mosawi, Hamed (3 March 2013). "A Sports Championship as the players of the martyr Nizar Abdul Zahra and the late Ali Al Diwan". AL-Hakim Martyr Foundation For Youth and Sport (Arabic edition). Retrieved 3 March 2013.