# 2022–23 Al-Mina'a SC season

The 2022–23 season will be Al-Minaa's first season in the Iraqi First Division League since the 1989–90 season and their third overall, having been relegated from the Iraqi Premier League in the 2021–22 season. Al-Minaa are participating in the Iraqi First Division League and the Iraq FA Cup.

## Review

After the end of the 2021–22 season, the Football Association did not specify the mechanism for the participation of clubs and their number in the subsequent season, and the matter remained ambiguous. Orally and in the media, the Football Association decided that the system of playing in the league will be according to the professional league system, and any club that did not complete its file according to the Club Licensing Law will not participate. The president of Football Association, Adnan Dirjal promised the president of Al-Minaa club and the governor of Basra that the Al-Minaa team would play in the Iraqi Premier League and not in the Iraqi First Division League if the club completed the licensing file. Based on the foregoing, the club contracted with coach Basim Qasim and five professionals, paid all their debts and completed the licensing file. But the club was surprised by the decision of the Football Association to reverse its decision to play according to the professional league system and not to accredit the licensed clubs, and that they were deceived by the Football Association.
The club's administrative problems and the unfair decision of the Football Association directly affected the bad start of the Al-Minaa matches, as it exited early from the FA Cup, and it also lost its first match in the First Division League by a difference of 3 goals.
However, the team gradually improved, and in the last rounds of the league, it topped Group 2, finished its matches at the top with 46 points, and was promoted to the Premier League and return after only one season, and it was decided that the team would play the final match in Baghdad on May 26, 2023 against Amanat Baghdad to determine the league champion. The Al-Minaa administration demanded that the match be transferred to Basra due to the large number of fans of the Al-Minaa, so that the match would be more attended, and the Amanat Baghdad administration agreed to that. Later, the Football Association decided that the match would be held on 2 June in Al-Fayhaa Stadium.
In the final, Al-Minaa was able to defeat Amanat Baghdad, 2–1, and win the title. The goals of Al-Minaa were scored by Sajjad Alaa (6') and Salem Ahmed (37'), while the goal of Amanat Baghdad was scored by Karrar Ali Bari (53').

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | IRQ | Jaafar Shenaishil |
| 4 | DF | MAR | Abdelhakim Aklidou |
| 7 | MF | IRQ | Ayad Abed Farhan |
| 12 | FW | IRQ | Karrar Jaafar |
| 14 | FW | IRQ | Asahr Ali |
| 15 | MF | IRQ | Mohammed Khudhair |
| 16 | MF | IRQ | Ahmed Mohsin Ashour |
| 17 | DF | IRQ | Haider Sari |
| 18 | FW | IRQ | Salem Ahmed |
| 19 | DF | IRQ | Muslim Mousa |
| 22 | GK | IRQ | Ali Faisal |
| 23 | DF | IRQ | Hussein Jabbar |
| 26 | FW | IRQ | Sajjad Alaa |
| 28 | MF | IRQ | Hamza Hadi Ahmed |
| 29 | DF | IRQ | Karrar Al-Amir Ali |
| 30 | DF | IRQ | Karrar Jumaa |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 32 | FW | IRQ | Abdullah Abdul Wahed |
| 33 | MF | IRQ | Abbas Yas |
| 34 | DF | BFA | Mohamed Ouattara |
| 36 | DF | IRQ | Hassan Odah |
| 37 | MF | IRQ | Haider Salem |
| 38 | MF | IRQ | Daniel Waleed |
| 39 | MF | BRA | Dioguinho |
| 40 | GK | IRQ | Mohammed Sabah |
| 42 | DF | IRQ | Abdullah Mohsin |
| 44 | MF | MAR | Soufiane Talal |
| 47 | MF | IRQ | Mohammed Salah |
| 48 | MF | IRQ | Hussein Abdul Karim |
| 50 | GK | IRQ | Haider Shejaa |
| 55 | DF | IRQ | Mohammed Abdul-Zahra |
| — | FW | FRA | Ghislain Guessan |

## New contracts and transfers
### New contracts

| Date | No. | Pos. | Name |
| 6 September 2022 | 11 | AM | Abdullah Wasfi |
| 6 September 2022 | 16 | AM | Ahmed Mohsin Ashour |
| 6 September 2022 | 18 | ST | Salem Ahmed |
| 6 September 2022 | 22 | GK | Ali Faisal |
| 6 September 2022 | 25 | DM | Sajid Abbas Hashim |
| 9 September 2022 | 28 | CM | Hamza Hadi Ahmed |
| 9 September 2022 | 33 | DM | Abbas Yas |
| 9 September 2022 | 36 | LB | Hassan Odah |

### Transfers in

| Date | Pos. | Name | From | Fee |
| 22 August 2022 | CB | Karrar Mohammed | Al-Naft | Free transfer |
| 22 August 2022 | GK | Amjad Rahim | Al-Najaf | Free transfer |
| 23 August 2022 | LB | Haidar Sari | Naft Al-Basra | Free transfer |
| 30 August 2022 | CB | Sebastijan Antić | Alittihad Misurata | Free transfer |
| 2 September 2022 | RW | Elson Hooi | Al Tadhamon | Free transfer |
| 9 September 2022 | RB | Hussein Jabbar | Al-Minaa Academy | n/a |
| 9 September 2022 | ST | Sajjad Alaa | Al-Minaa Academy | n/a |
| 13 September 2022 | GK | Jaafar Shenaishil | Al-Minaa Academy | n/a |
| 13 September 2022 | CM | Mohammed Khudhair | Al-Minaa Academy | n/a |
| 15 September 2022 | CB | Roderick Miller | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | Free transfer |
| 15 September 2022 | CB | Abdelhakim Aklidou | Ittihad Tanger | Free transfer |
| 15 September 2022 | ST | Mamadouba Bangoura | CS Hammam-Lif | Free transfer |
| 16 September 2022 | CB | Karrar Jumaa | Naft Al-Basra | Free transfer |
| 16 September 2022 | DM | Mohammed Abdul Zahra | Masafi Al-Janoob | Free transfer |
| 29 September 2022 | AM | Ayad Abed Farhan | Zakho | Free transfer |
| 23 October 2022 | LB | Muslim Mousa | Al-Minaa Academy | n/a |
| 23 October 2022 | LW | Karrar Jaafar | Al-Minaa Academy | n/a |
| 23 October 2022 | LW | Daniel Waleed | Al-Minaa Academy | n/a |
| 1 November 2022 | CM | Mohammed Abdul Hussein | Al-Karkh | Free transfer |
| 4 January 2023 | CB | Abdullah Mohsin | Naft Al-Basra | Free transfer |
| 4 January 2023 | DM | Haidar Salem | Naft Al-Basra | Free transfer |
| 23 January 2023 | CB | Mohamed Ouattara | Al-Naft | Free transfer |
| 28 January 2023 | AM | Dioguinho | Paysandu | Free transfer |
| 30 January 2023 | AM | Soufiane Talal | Al-Zawraa | Free transfer |
| 30 January 2023 | GK | Mohammed Sabah | Al-Nasiriya | Free transfer |
| 2 February 2023 | GK | Haider Shejaa | Al-Naft | Loan |
| 2 February 2023 | ST | Abdullah Abdul Wahed | Al-Karkh | Free transfer |
| 5 February 2023 | DM | Hussein Abdul Karim | Al-Qasim | Free transfer |
| 5 February 2023 | RW | Mohammed Salah | Naft Al-Basra | Free transfer |
| 6 February 2023 | CB | Mohammed Abdul-Zahra | Al-Najaf | Free transfer |
| 6 February 2023 | ST | Ghislain Guessan | Perak | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date | Pos. | Name | To | Fee |
| 11 July 2022 | CM | Nasser Al-Gahwashi | Naft Al-Wasat | Undisclosed |
| 19 July 2022 | AM | Mehdi Alamah | Al-Jazeera | Free transfer |
| 20 July 2022 | LB | Ahmed Yahya | Al-Shorta | Undisclosed |
| 19 August 2022 | CB | Afif Jebali | Asaria FC | Free transfer |
| 20 August 2022 | RB | Ahmed Mohammed | Unattached | Released |
| 20 August 2022 | RW | Ahmed Jalil Hanoon | Unattached | Released |
| 20 August 2022 | AM | Murtadha Shaker | Unattached | Released |
| 22 August 2022 | CB | Bilal Tizi Bouali | JS Bordj Ménaïel | Free transfer |
| 26 August 2022 | DM | Ousmane Diabaté | Olympic Azzaweya | Free transfer |
| 27 August 2022 | GK | Ali Abdul Hassan | Al-Kahrabaa | Free transfer |
| 3 September 2022 | CB | Ali Lateef | Al-Ramadi | Free transfer |
| 6 September 2022 | ST | Manar Taha | Zakho | Free transfer |
| 11 September 2022 | DM | Ibrahim Naeem | Al-Sinaa | Free transfer |
| 23 September 2022 | GK | Murtadha Sami | Masafi Al-Janoob | Free transfer |
| 6 November 2022 | ST | Mohammed Shokan | Unattached | Released |
| 24 November 2022 | CB | Sebastijan Antić | Unattached | Released |
| 2 December 2022 | CB | Roderick Miller | Unattached | Released |
| 4 December 2022 | ST | Mamadouba Bangoura | Unattached | Released |
| 25 December 2022 | GK | Amjad Rahim | Unattached | Released |
| 6 January 2023 | RW | Elson Hooi | Unattached | Released |
| 24 January 2023 | CB | Ahmed Khalid | Newroz | Free transfer |
| 25 January 2023 | AM | Ali Shawqi | Al-Qasim | Free transfer |
| 3 February 2023 | CB | Karrar Mohammed | Naft Al-Wasat | Released |
| 4 February 2023 | AM | Abdullah Wasfi | Newroz | Released |
| 6 February 2023 | DM | Sajid Abbas Hashim | Unattached | Released |
| 6 February 2023 | DM | Mohammed Abdul Zahra | Unattached | Released |
| 6 February 2023 | CM | Mohammed Abdul Hussein | Unattached | Released |
| 9 February 2023 | GK | Mujtaba Mohammed | Al-Diwaniya | Released |

## Personnel
### Technical staff

Management and staff as of 20 May 2023 :
| Position | Name |
| Manager | Fareed Majeed |
| Goalkeeping coach | Qusay Jabbar |
| Fitness coach | Nassir Abdul-Amir |
| Team doctor | Fares Abdullah |
| Team supervisor | Ali Fadhel |

## Stadium

On December 26, 2022, the Al-Minaa Olympic Stadium was inaugurated by the Ministry of Youth and Sports in preparation for the establishment of the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup, where the tournament will take place on this stadium in addition to the Basra Sports City. The opening included a ceremony in which the retired Al-Minaa stars were honored. After that, a friendly match took place between Al-Minaa and Kuwait, in which Kuwait won 2–1. Ali Hussain (57') and Taha Yassine Khenissi (66') scored the double for Kuwait, and Karrar Mohammed scored for Al-Minaa from a penalty kick in the 89th minute. Despite the completion of the construction of the stadium, the stadium was not handed over to the club to play its matches on it, due to some side deficiencies in it. Therefore, Basra Sports City will remain the temporary stadium for the team this season.

## Pre-season and friendlies

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers |
| 16 September 2022 | Al-Zubair | H | 2–0 | Ahmed, Hooi |
| 18 September 2022 | Erbil | A | 0–1 | |
| 20 September 2022 | Newroz | A | 1–1 | Ashour |
| 22 September 2022 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | N | 1–2 | Hooi |
| 29 September 2022 | Naft Maysan | H | 1–0 | Ahmed |
| 2 October 2022 | Masafi Al-Janoob | H | 2–1 | Shokan, Wasfi |
| 10 October 2022 | Naft Al-Basra | H | 2–3 | Farhan, Al-Amir Ali |
| 12 October 2022 | Al-Zubair | H | 4–0 | Shokan, Wasfi, Alaa, Abbas |
| 16 October 2022 | Al-Zawraa | A | 0–1 | |
| 18 October 2022 | Al-Sinaat Al-Kahrabaiya | A | 1–0 | Ahmed |
| 19 October 2022 | Al-Jolan | N | 1–1 | Hadi |
| 21 October 2022 | Al-Etisalat | A | 1–1 | Wasfi |
| 27 October 2022 | Masafi Al-Janoob | H | 2–0 | Ahmed, Jaafar |
| 2 November 2022 | Safwan | H | 2–0 | Bangoura, Aysar |
| 27 October 2022 | Masafi Al-Janoob | H | 2–0 | Ahmed, Jaafar |
| 26 December 2022 | Kuwait | H | 1–2 | K.Mohammed 90' (pen.) |
| 20 January 2023 | Al-Bahri | H | 0–1 | |
| 22 March 2023 | Al-Bahri | A | 0–0 | |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| First Division League | 18 November 2022 | 2 June 2023 | Matchday 1 | Winners | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 40 | 16 | +24 | 060.87 |
| FA Cup | 1 November 2022 | 12 November 2022 | First round | Third round | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 25 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 44 | 18 | +26 | 060.00 |
Last updated: 2 June 2023 Source: Competitions

### First Division League
#### Summary table

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 2 June 2023. Source: Goalzz.com

#### Matches

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | pos. |
| 19 November 2022 | Diyala | A | 0–3 | | 12th |
| 24 November 2022 | Al-Muroor | H | 3–2 | Ahmed 42', Wasfi 73', Khalid 87' | 7th |
| 29 November 2022 | Al-Nasiriya | A | 1–1 | Ahmed 79' | 8th |
| 4 December 2022 | Al-Jolan | H | 1–0 | Jaafar 87' | 4th |
| 9 December 2022 | Al-Hussein | H | 1–0 | Jaafar 89' | 2nd |
| 14 December 2022 | Al-Samawa | A | 2–0 | Alaa 38', Ahmed 90+1' | 2nd |
| 19 December 2022 | Al-Kufa | H | 0–0 | | 3rd |
| Mid-season break for 25th Arabian Gulf Cup ||||||
| 28 January 2023 | Afak | H | 1–1 | Jaafar 63' | 3rd |
| 2 February 2023 | Al-Sulaikh | A | 2–1 | Aklidou 70' (pen.), Farhan 80' | 3rd |
| 7 February 2023 | Masafi Al-Wasat | H | 1–0 | Dioguinho 58' | 2nd |
| 13 February 2023 | Al-Shirqat | A | 2–0 | Alaa 46', Farhan 85' (pen.) | 1st |
| 20 February 2023 | Diyala | H | 1–2 | Farhan 38' | 2nd |
| 25 February 2024 | Al-Muroor | A | 1–1 | Alaa 61' | 2nd |
| 2 March 2023 | Al-Nasiriya | H | 3–0 | Farhan 45' (pen.), Ahmed 56', Dioguinho 78' | 2nd |
| 12 March 2024 | Al-Jolan | A | 0–0 | | 2nd |
| 25 March 2023 | Al-Hussein | A | 0–0 | | 1st |
| 31 March 2023 | Al-Samawa | H | 2–1 | Jaafar 26', Ahmed 83' | 1st |
| 5 April 2023 | Al-Kufa | A | 1–1 | Dioguinho 8' | 1st |
| 10 April 2023 | Al-Shirqat | H | 5–2 | Jaafar 28', Farhan 41' (pen.), Ahmed (2) 50', 88', Dioguinho 83' | 1st |
| 21 April 2023 | Afak | A | 3–0 | Ahmed 49', Ouattara 60', Dioguinho 90' | 1st |
| 27 April 2023 | Al-Sulaikh | H | 5–0 | Ahmed (2) 32', 38', Alaa (2) 57', 60', Dioguinho 62' | 1st |
| 2 May 2023 | Masafi Al-Wasat | A | 3–0 | Salem 22', Ouattara 28', Dioguinho 40' | 1st |
| 2 June 2023 | Amanat Baghdad | H | 2–1 | Alaa 6', Ahmed 37' | 1st |
* ↑ This match, which was originally scheduled to take place on December 24, 2022, was postponed due to Al-Minaa’s association with the opening match of Al-Minaa Olympic Stadium against Kuwait on the 26th of the same month.
* ↑ This match, which was scheduled to take place on March 17, 2023, was postponed to the next day, and then postponed to March 25, 2023 due to the pitch floor was not eligible after rain.

### FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers |
| 1 November 2022 | First round | Al-Shabab Al-Basri | H | 3–0 | Ahmed 16', Khalid 62', Wasfi 90+2' |
| 12 November 2022 | Third round | Masafi Al-Junoob | A | 1–2 | Hooi 77' (pen.) |

## Squad statistics
### Goalscorers

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | First Division League | FA Cup | Total |
| 1 | 18 | FW | | Salem Ahmed | 11 | 1 | 12 |
| 2 | 39 | FW | | Dioguinho | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | 26 | FW | | Sajjad Alaa | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | 7 | MF | | Ayad Abed Farhan | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | 12 | FW | | Karrar Jaafar | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | 11 | MF | | Abdullah Wasfi | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | 34 | DF | | Mohamed Ouattara | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | 35 | DF | | Ahmed Khalid | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | 4 | DF | | Abdelhakim Aklidou | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 9 | MF | | Elson Hooi | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | 37 | MF | | Haider Salem | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 40 | 4 | 44 |
Last updated: 2 June 2023

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Nationality | Number | Name | First Division League | FA Cup | Total |
| 1 | | 22 | Ali Faisal | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 2 | | 21 | Amjad Rahim | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | | 1 | Jaafar Shenaishil | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 12 | 1 | 13 |
Last updated: 2 June 2023