Ali Abbas

Ali Abbas
Ali Abbas in the jersey of Marconi (2009)
Personnel
Surname	Ali Abbas Mshehid Al-Hilfi
birthday	August 30, 1986
place of birth	Baghdad ,  Iraq
size	169 cm
position	midfield
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
2005-2006	Al-Talaba
2006-2007	Al-Quwa al-Jawiya
2009	Marconi Stallions
2009–2012	Newcastle United Jets	60 (4)
2012-2016	Sydney FC	72 (6)
2016	Pohang Steelers	10 (1)
2017-2018	Wellington Phoenix	8 (0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
	Iraq U-23
2007-2016	Iraq	10 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Ali Abbas Mshehid Al-Hilfi ( Arabic علي عباس مشيهد الحلفي, Born August 30, 1986 in Baghdad ) is an Iraqi former football player . Abbas won the Asian Cup with the Iraqi national team in 2007 and applied for political asylum a few months later during a qualifying match with the Olympic team in Australia .

Career

Ali Abbas played for Al-Talaba and Al-Quwa al-Jawiya in Iraq and was part of the 2007 Asian Cup when the Iraqi national team surprisingly won the title. Abbas made two appearances in the course of the tournament, including shortly before the end of the game in the 1-0 final win against Saudi Arabia . In November 2007, Abbas and two other players left the team after a qualifying game with the Iraqi Olympic team (U-23) in Australia and applied for asylum.

After he was granted political asylum by the Australian side, he returned to Iraq in February 2009 to request international clearance from his previous club, Al-Quwa. He then continued his career in Australia with the Marconi Stallions in the New South Wales Premier League (NSWPL) after he had previously failed a test training with the Newcastle United Jets . The left foot was with Marconi in the 2009 championship final, which however was lost 4-1 to the Sutherland Sharks . Abbas was one of the outstanding players of the NSWPL, finished 2nd in the election for Player of the Year and was voted into the All-Star Team of the season. A short time later, he finally received a contract until the end of the season in the A-League with the Newcastle Jets as a replacement for the long-term injured Shaun Ontong . The contract was extended after the end of the season. In early May 2012, Newcastle's coach Gary van Egmond announced that Abbas would not be offered a new contract and would leave the club at the end of the season. Abbas signed a two-year contract with Sydney FC that same month . In 2016 he moved to the Pohang Steelers for six months and then joined Wellington Phoenix in 2017 . In 2018 he ended his career.

He was granted Australian citizenship in January 2012.

In October 2014 he was nominated again for the Iraqi national team for the first time since his escape and played his first international match since 2007 in the 1-1 draw against Yemen on October 10, 2014.

Web links

• Ali Abbas in the database of weltfussball.de
• Ali Abbas in the database of National-Football-Teams.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ reuters.com: Iraq says 3 soccer players seek Australia asylum (Nov. 18, 2007)
2. ↑ smh.com.au: Baghdad to Bossley Park: Ali Abbas kick-starts career with Stallions (Feb. 17, 2009)
3. ↑ footballnsw.com.au: Sutherland Sharks victorious in TeleChoice Championship Series Grand Final (Sep. 13, 2009) ( Memento from September 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ au.fourfourtwo.com: A-League's Next Big Thing (April 29, 2009)
5. ↑ footballnsw.com.au: 2009 Gold Medal Dinner a huge success as Bradley Boardman scoops major award ( Memento from February 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
6. ↑ au.fourfourtwo.com: Iraqi Winger Jets Into Hunter (Sep. 18, 2009)
7. ↑ au.fourfourtwo.com: New Jets Deal for Abbas (March 18, 2010)
8. ↑ theherald.com.au: Elrich, Brockie and Abbas not re-signing with Jets (May 7, 2012)
9. ↑ smh.com.au: Sydney FC sign Abbas for two years (May 21, 2012)
10. ↑ theherald.com.au: Ali's passport to freedom (Jan. 24, 2012)