Iraq national team preps for match against Costa Rica in Basra
Jesus Casas Garca (far right), Iraq’s new coach of the national team, training Iraqi players in Basra with his assistants.
Basra (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi national team landed in Basra, Iraq to prepare for the friendly football match against Costa Rica. The match will occur tomorrow (November 17) at 5pm (Baghdad time) at the newly built venue Basra Sport City Stadium.
Jesus Casas Garca, a Spanish coach, was recently appointed manager of the Iraqi national team. Casas, who was born in Madrid in 1973, has a distinguished coaching background. When he took over the young squad of Cádiz CF at the age of just 29, he made his coaching debut.
Casas eventually joined Barcelona FC as a scout in 2011 and then joined the squad as a match analyst, assisting them in winning two La Liga championships and the UEFA Champions League trophy. In 2018, Casas relocated to another country to work as Javi Gracia’s assistant at Watford in the English Premier League.
Casas plans to stay in charge of the Iraqi national team for a long period.
“My project with Iraq is long and beautiful,” said Casas. “I prefer to follow Simeone’s philosophy, it is the most appropriate.”
Iraqi footballers Ahmed Yassin, who plays for Swedish club Örebro, and Zidane Iqbal, who plays for Manchester United, flew in from Europe to Basra to participate in the national team’s first training session under Casas today.
“Today is the first training session with the new coaching staff,” said Zidane Iqbal. “New ideas and some new players…Exciting times.”