1st Umm al-Ma'arik Championship

The 1st Umm al-Ma'arik Championship (Arabic: بطولة أم المعارك الأولى) was the first occurrence of the Umm al-Ma'arik Championship. This edition of the competition was organised by Al-Talaba. The top six teams of the 1990–91 Iraqi National League were supposed to compete in the tournament, but Al-Naft withdrew from the competition and were replaced by seventh-placed Al-Najaf. All the matches were played at Al-Shaab Stadium. The competition started on 2 September and ended on 13 September where, in the final, Al-Zawraa defeated Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 3–1 after extra time.[1]

1st Umm al-Ma'arik Championship
Tournament details
CountryIraq
Dates2–13 September 1991
Teams6
Final positions
ChampionsAl-Zawraa
Runner-upAl-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Third placeAl-Talaba
Fourth placeAl-Karkh
Tournament statistics
Matches played10
Goals scored24 (2.4 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)Laith Hussein
(4 goals)
Best playerLaith Hussein

Background

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Al-Talaba proposed the establishing of a new tournament that includes only the top six teams of the 1990–91 Iraqi National League: Al-Zawraa, Al-Talaba, Al-Shorta, Al-Karkh, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and Al-Naft. Salim Rasheed, the vice president of Al-Talaba, stated that the competition would be played at Al-Shaab Stadium and in two groups. The Iraq Football Association agreed on the proposition on 24 August 1991.[2]

The higher organizing committee of the competition held a meeting with the participating teams' representatives and the FA's representatives at Al-Talaba's headquarters on 25 August 1991 to discuss the start and end dates of the tournament and other technical matters. The duration of the competition was decided to be from 2–13 September 1991 and 31 August would be the last day to receive squad lists. Before the start of the tournament, Al-Naft did not accept the invitation, so they were replaced by Al-Najaf, the seventh-placed team of the league.[2]

Pre-opening

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The organizing committee invited 41 former national players, organizing a charity match between them, but only 24 got to play. The players were split into two teams. The green team included Jalal Abdul-Rahman, Muthanna Hameed, Saadi Toma, Shakir Ali, Falah Hassan, Ali Kadhim, Hadi Al-Janabi, Hassan Saddawi, Sabah Hatim, Ayoub Odisho, Abdelilah Abdul-Wahid and Jaleel Salih, while the white team consisted of Kadhim Khalaf, Samir Shaker, Ibrahim, Wathiq Aswad, Abdul-Zahra Aswad, Hussein Saeed, Haris Mohammed, Thair Ahmed, Mahdi Jassim, Faisal Aziz, Abdul-Karim Farhan and Abdul-Muhsin Mohammed. It ended in a 4–1 win for to the green team.[2]

Group stage

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The matches were drawn on 29 August 1991.

Group 1

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 2 2 0 0 2 0 +2 4
Al-Talaba 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 2
Al-Shorta 2 0 0 2 0 2 −2 0
Al-Talaba1–0Al-Shorta
Jabbar   41' (pen.)
Referee: Abbas Abdul-Rahman
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya1–0Al-Shorta
Fadhil   76'
Referee: Tariq Ahmed
Al-Talaba0–1 (a.e.t.)Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Yassir   91'
Referee: Ghalib Abdul-Kadhim

Group 2

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Al-Zawraa 2 2 0 0 5 0 +5 4
Al-Karkh 2 1 0 1 4 2 +2 2
Al-Najaf 2 0 0 2 1 8 −7 0
Al-Zawraa1–0Al-Karkh
Hussein   21'
Referee: Mohameed Saleem
Al-Karkh4–1Al-Najaf
Daham   21'
Allawi   36'
Abdul-Kadhim   75'
Khalaf   80'
Najim   12'
Referee: Tariq Thar Hani
Al-Zawraa4–0Al-Najaf
Hussein   28', 55'
Saddam   43'
Mahdi   64'
Referee: Adil Al-Qassab

Semifinals

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Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya2–0Al-Karkh
Shenaishil   48' (pen.)
Emmanuel   57'
Referee: Subhi Raheem
Al-Zawraa1–0Al-Talaba
Mahdi   5'
Referee: Abdul-Karim Saadi

Third place match

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Al-Karkh2–2 (a.e.t.)Al-Talaba
Ali   70'
Mitib   96'
Hussein   55'
Kadhim   120'
Penalties
Allawi  
Khalaf  
Yasin  
Mutaab  
Haider  
3–4   Jabbar
  Shakir
  Bakhit
  Kadhim
  Jafar
Referee: Tariq Ahmed

Final

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Al-Zawraa3–1 (a.e.t.)Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Saddam   18'
Hussein   91'
Radhi   93'
Abdul-Hameed   80' (pen.)
Referee: Salah Mohammed
Umm al-Ma'arik Championship
1991–92 winner
Al-Zawraa
1st title

References

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  1. ^ Hashim, Refel; Mubarak, Hassanin (April 2, 2006). "Iraq 1991/92". RSSSF.
  2. ^ a b c Mahmoud, Shukri (January 23, 2010). "Umm Al-Ma'arik Tournaments File". Kooora Forums (in Arabic).
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