Dhurgham Ismail

(Redirected from Dhirgham Ismaeel)

Dhurgham Ismail Dawoud Al-Quraishi (Arabic: ضرغام إسماعيل داوود القريشي; born 23 May 1994), better known as Dhurgham Ismail, is an Iraqi professional footballer who plays as a left back or left winger for Bahraini Premier League club Al-Khaldiya and for the Iraqi national team.

Dhurgham Ismail
ضرغام إسماعيل
Ismail Al-Quraishi with Iraq U23 in 2014
Personal information
Full name Dhurgham Ismail Dawoud Al-Quraishi
Date of birth (1994-05-23) 23 May 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth Amarah, Maysan Province, Ba'athist Iraq
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Left back, left winger
Team information
Current team
Al-Khaldiya
Youth career
2009–2010 Naft Maysan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2015 Al-Shorta 104 (21)
2015–2018 Çaykur Rizespor 52 (1)
2018–2020 Al-Shorta 22 (0)
2020–2021 Al-Zawraa
2021–2022 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
2022–2023 Al-Talaba
2023– Al-Khaldiya
International career
2009–2010 Iraq U17 8 (1)
2011–2013 Iraq U20 10 (4)
2011–2016 Iraq U23 12 (1)
2013– Iraq 70 (3)
Medal record
Representing  Iraq
Men's football
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Incheon Team
AFC U-22 Championship
Winner 2013 AFC U-22 Championship Team
Arabian Gulf Cup
Runner-up 21st Arabian Gulf Cup Team
Winner 25th Arabian Gulf Cup Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 March 2021
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 March 2024

Early career

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Dhurgham Ismail was born on May 23, 1994, in the city of Amarah in Maysan province, in south-eastern Iraq. Dhurgham has represented Iraq for the U-17s, U-19s, U-23s and the senior national side.[1]

The left back joined the Iraq FA youth system in 2010 after FA member Yahya Zaghir, the secretary of Naft Maysan, where he was a youth player, took the footballer to Iraq U-17 coach Muwafaq Hussein and presented him as “a player from Al-Sadr City,” a city within a city in the Iraqi capital.[1][2] In November 2010, Ismail signed a five-year contract for Al Shorta at the age of 16.[3]

Dhurgham was a footballer from the province and for decades the Iraqi youth sides had been dominated by Baghdad-based players, both because of the prejudice against the provincial talent and the close proximity from the youth sides training facilities in the Iraqi capital and with only a few coaches scouting around the country for new talent.[1] Yahya Zaghir may have believed it was better for Dhargham to be labelled a player from Baghdad rather than face the prejudice of coming from the provinces. Two years later, the gifted left sided defender was the star of the Under 17s side, wearing the No.9 with presenter Haidar Al-Wattar praising him on the MBC channel.[1]

Club career

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Al Shorta

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2010–11

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He made his debut in Al Shorta's first match of the 2010–11 Iraqi Premier League, against Al-Karkh SC, on 27 November 2010, where it ended in a 0–0 draw.[4] In his first season, he quickly made his position in the starting eleven squad with the squad number 13, being picked to start in many games, after the departure of the club's first choice left back, Ahmad Kadhim Assad, in September 2010.[5]

He scored his first goal on 9 February 2011, a long-range effort into the top corner against giants Erbil SC, at the 35th minute, in a match that ended in a 3–1 win for Al Shorta.[6] His cross from the left flank led to the very last goal that club legend Hashim Ridha scored for Al Shorta in a defeat to Ramadi FC, and Ismail scored his second goal on 1 July 2011, against Samarra FC, in a match that ended in another 3–1 win.[7] This was a crucial win for Al Shorta in the battle to avoid relegation.

Al Shorta ended the 2010–11 season with them being in 8th place in the North Group, escaping relegation by goal difference. Al Shorta's defense, that includes Ismail, have conceded 23 goals in that season.[8]

2011–12

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Ismail was handed the number 3 shirt for the season. Upon earning his starting role in the squad, Ismail had assists in a lot of matches from the 2011–12 Iraqi Premier League, mostly crossing long balls into the penalty area. He also scored two goals in this season: one of them was on 3 March 2012, against Zakho FC, in a 2–0 win for Al Shorta.[9] The second one was on 19 March 2012, against Al-Hedood, in another 2–0 win.[10]

Ismail was nominated by the head coach of Al-Zawra'a, Radhi Shenaishil, and the head coach of Al Shorta, Mohammed Tabra, as left back of the Al-Batal Magazine Team of the Season. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya's Hussam Kadhim was picked for the position.[11]

Al Shorta ended the 2011–12 season with them being in 7th place and conceding 37 goals.[12]

2012–13

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The 2012–13 season was the first season for Ismail to win a title. On 22 November 2012, Ismail wore the captain's armband for Al Shorta for the first time against Masafi Al-Wasat, after Amjad Kalaf was substituted off in the second half. He scored Al Shorta's only goal against Sulaymaniya FC in Round 9,[13] a curling shot from the outside of his boot, and also scored against Al-Mina'a SC from a free-kick, Zakho FC, Masafi Al-Wasat, and scored the last goal for Al Shorta in the season, against Talaba SC, on 4 September 2013 which secured the league title for the club, resulting in five goals for Ismail in this season, which was the most he had in one season.[14]

Al Shorta won their first league shield since the 1997–98 season and their third one as a total, just two years after finishing +5 goal difference away from relegation. They also achieved the 2013 Baghdad Cup, but Ismail wasn't included in the squad due to being on international duty.[15]

2013–14

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Ismail appeared in most matches of the 2013–14 season, where he scored a goal against Duhok SC, Naft Al-Janoob from a penalty and scored two goals against Naft Maysan, which is the first time that he scored two goals in one match for Al Shorta,[16] and also had two assists. The 2014 AFC Champions League qualifiers was the first international club competition that Ismail participated in; he played the last 23 minutes of the qualifying match which Al Shorta lost by one goal to Kuwait SC. He also started in all of the six games that Al Shorta played in the 2014 AFC Cup.

Al Shorta topped the Iraqi League standings for the second time in the row, although the league was ended prematurely, but were unable to qualify to the 2014 AFC Cup knock-out stage.[17]

2014–15

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In the 2014–15 season, Ismail scored 8 goals, becoming the second top scorer of Al Shorta, below Marwan Hussein at 15 goals. His goals were scored against Najaf FC, Al-Hedood, Baghdad FC, Al-Mina'a SC, Al-Naft and Al-Zawra'a SC.[14] Ismail also appeared in 5 matches of the 2015 AFC Cup out of 7 that Al Shorta played, scoring a goal against Taraji Wadi Al-Nes in a match that ended in a 6–2 win for Al-Shorta,[18] and he had 4 assists in the tournament.[19][20]

Al Shorta had the 3rd place in the league[21] and were eliminated from the 2015 AFC Cup Round of 16 by Kuwait SC.[22]

While Ismail renewed his contract for Al Shorta for one more year,[23] offers were presented by Spanish club Girona FC,[24] Iranian club Persepolis and Turkish club Çaykur Rizespor in July 2015 to sign him.[25]

Çaykur Rizespor

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On 15 August 2015, Ismail transferred from Al Shorta to Çaykur Rizespor, signing a five-year contract to play in the Turkish Süper Lig, dubbed Rizespor's new Ali Adnan, who had left earlier in the window to Serie A club Udinese, even taking the number 53 shirt previously worn by his international teammate.[26] He made his league debut on 19 September 2015, playing as a left midfielder for the full match in a 5–1 win over Antalyaspor.[27] In his second match, in the Turkish Cup against Ankara Adliyespor, he played as a left back rather than a midfielder in the match that ended in a 2–0 victory for Rizespor. Dhurgham Ismail scored his first goal in Turkey as his team beat Sivasspor 2–0 in the cup. His first league goal for Rizespor came in Dhurgham's 2nd season at the club where he scored against Alanyaspor as the game ended in a 3–2 win for his club.[28] In 2017 Dhurgham suffered a long-term injury and missed the entire 2017–18 season as he was recovering from the injury. With his condition not improving, Dhurgham was released from Rizespor, two years before his contract was due to expire.

Return to Al-Shorta

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In 2018 Al-Shorta announced that Dhurgham had returned to his former club and would continue recovering from his injury with the club. Dhurgham took number 11 on his return to his former club and was instantly named vice-captain, although he would go on to captain the club several times throughout the 2018-19 title-winning season and the short 2019-20 season. Dhurgham's first season back at Al-Shorta was very successful as they dominated the league under Montenegrin manager Nebojša Jovović, who would become the first European manager to win the Iraqi Premier League in history, with the strike-force of Mohanad Ali and Alaa Abdul-Zahra scoring 47 goals, leading to Europe's biggest clubs bidding over Mimi. Dhurgham lifted the title with his teammates at the end of the season as Al-Shorta qualified for the 2019 Iraqi Super Cup, which they would win, and the 2020 AFC Champions League. With his second season back at the club being suspended due to political protests in the country and then restarted before being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dhurgham was only able to make 5 league appearances. On the 20th of June 2020, Dhurgham announced that his time at Al-Shorta had come to an end and he would be joining Baghdad rivals Al-Zawraa ahead of the next season, making them the first club other than Al-Shorta he would play for in Iraq at the senior level, after a total of 7 years for Al-Qeethara.

Al-Zawraa

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In the summer of 2020, Dhurgham signed for Iraqi giants Al-Zawra'a.

International career

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Iraq U-17

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Ismail's first international tournament for the Iraq national U-17 team was the 2009 WAFF U-16 Championship, where Iraq ended in 3rd place, which was Ismail's first international achievement. In the 2010 AFC U-16 Championship, Ismail scored his first international goal, on 27 October 2010, against Kuwait in a 3–0 win for Iraq.[29][30]

Iraq U-20

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Ismail's first tournament with the Iraq national U-20 team was the 2011 Arab Cup U-20, where Iraq didn't get passed the group stage.[31]

Although he was not included in the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship squad, Ismail was part of the 2012 Arab Cup U-20, where he scored a goal against Syria, but Iraq eventually finished in the bottom of Group C.[32]

Ismail was included in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup squad, playing as a left back. He was subbed off for Ammar Abdul-Hussein in the first match, against England,[33] subbed in for Mahdi Kamel, against Egypt,[34] subbed in at half time for Abdul-Hussein, against Paraguay.[35] Being subbed in at the 112th minute, Ismail scored his penalty kick during the penalty shoot-out, against South Korea, in the quarterfinal.[36] He didn't play in the semifinal, where Iraq lost, but he started in the third place match, where they lost 0–3.[37]

Iraq U-23

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Ismail's first tournament for the Iraq national U-23 team was the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship. He started in all of the six matches that Iraq played, scoring a goal in the first match, against Saudi Arabia, in a match that ended in a 3–1 win for Iraq,[38] and having an assist against Uzbekistan.[39] Iraq won the final, against Saudi Arabia, achieving the tournament, which was the first international trophy for Ismail.[40]

In the 2014 Asian Games, Ismail appeared in 5 matches and missed two.[41] In all of the matches he played, Ismail didn't play a full game, being subbed off at the 60th minute, against Nepal,[42] subbed in at the 75th minute, against Kuwait,[43] subbed in at the 75th minute, against Tajikistan,[44] subbed off at the 30th minute, against Saudi Arabia,[45] and subbed in at the 86th minute, against Thailand.[46]

Iraq

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On 12 January 2013, Ismail made his senior International debut with the number 20, against Yemen, in the 21st Arabian Gulf Cup group stage, where he scored a debut goal from a free kick.[47][48] Ismail went on to appear in the semifinal, being subbed in at the 111th minute for Humam Tariq, against Bahrain, and successfully score his penalty kick during the penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw.[49] He also was subbed in for the final, at the 53rd minute, for Ahmed Yasin Ghani, against the United Arab Emirates, where Iraq lost 1–2 and became runners-up.[50]

On 29 December 2014, Ismail was included in Iraq's squad for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, playing as a left back.[51] He started in all of the six matches they played. Ismail was named Man of the Match in the quarterfinal, against Iran, for creating the attack that led to the second goal for Iraq, by shooting the ball that gets deflected off the keeper and onto Younis Mahmoud's head, who headers it in,[52] and by scoring Iraq's third goal from a penalty as they drew 3–3 at Canberra Stadium and eventually prevailed 7–6 on a penalty shootout, in which Ismail scored his kick.[53] Iraq finished fourth in the tournament after losing for the United Arab Emirates at the third place match 2–3.[54] Due to his performance, Ismail was included in the Team of the Tournament as the best left back.[55]

Ismail scored his third goal for the national team on his fourth appearance in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, against Chinese Taipei, at the 18th minute, by a cross from Younis Mahmoud.[56]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 7 March 2020[57]
Club Season League Cup[a] Continental[b] Other[c] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Al Shorta 2010–11 Iraqi Premier League 104 2 116 2
2011–12 2 2
2012–13 5 5
2013–14 4 7[d] 0 4
2014–15 8 5[e] 1 9
Total 104 21 12 1 116 22
Çaykur Rizespor 2015–16 Süper Lig 20 0 8 1 28 1
2016–17 32 1 8 0 40 1
Total 52 1 16 1 68 2
Al-Shorta 2018–19 Iraqi Premier League 17 0 1 0 18 0
2019–20 5 0 0 0 2[f] 0 1 0 8 0
Total 22 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 26 0
Career total 178 22 17 1 14 1 1 0 210 24
  1. ^ Includes cup competitions such as the Iraq FA Cup and the Turkish Cup
  2. ^ Includes continental competitions such as Asia, Arab and Europe
  3. ^ Includes other competitions such as Iraqi Super Cup
  4. ^ One appearance in AFC Champions League, six appearances in AFC Cup
  5. ^ Appearances in AFC Cup
  6. ^ Appearances in Arab Club Champions Cup

International

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As of match played 22 March 2024[58]
Iraq
Year Apps Goals
2013 12 1
2014 6 0
2015 14 2
2016 7 0
2017 2 0
2019 12 0
2021 8 0
2022 3 0
2023 5 0
2024 1 0
Total 70 3

International goals

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Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first.[58]
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 12 January 2013 Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town   Yemen 1–0 2–0 21st Arabian Gulf Cup
2 23 January 2015 Canberra Stadium, Canberra   Iran 3–2 3–3
(a.e.t.)
(7–6 p)
2015 AFC Asian Cup
3 17 November 2015 National Stadium, Kaohsiung   Chinese Taipei 1–0 2–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
4. 18 March 2022 Al-Madina Stadium, Baghdad   Zambia 1–0 3–1 Friendly

Honours

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Al-Shorta

Çaykur Rizespor

Al-Khaldiya

Iraq

Individual

Personal life

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Ismail belongs to Iraq's Shia community.[65] His cousin, Ahmed Hasan Maknzi, also a left-back, plays for Al Zawraa and the Iraq U-20s.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Mubarak, Hassanin. "Iraq Olympic Team Profile". Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  2. ^ "What do you know about Dhurgham Ismail?". Youths of Iraq (in Arabic). 27 July 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Defender of the Iraq Youth team, Dhurgham Ismail, officially joins the squad of Al Shorta" (in Arabic). Al-Ikhbaryia News Agency. 20 November 2010.
  4. ^ "All Soccer Matches - 27 November 2010". Goalzz.
  5. ^ "Al Shorta SC Team Transfers". Goalzz.
  6. ^ "Al-Shorta defeats Erbil 3-1 in a postponed match from the football league" (in Arabic). Voice of Iraq. 9 February 2011. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016.
  7. ^ "All Soccer Matches - 1 July 2011". Goalzz.
  8. ^ Mubarak, Hassanin (19 September 2013). "Iraq 2010/11". RSSSF.
  9. ^ "All Soccer Matches - 3 March 2012". Goalzz.
  10. ^ "All Soccer Matches - 19 March 2012". Goalzz.
  11. ^ "Ideal Team of the League". Al-Batal (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  12. ^ Stokkermans, Karel (17 January 2013). "Iraq 2011/12". RSSSF.
  13. ^ "All Soccer Matches - 22 December 2012". Goalzz.
  14. ^ a b "Matches that Dhurgham Ismail scored in". Kooora (in Arabic).
  15. ^ "Al Shorta - 2012-13 Season Review". Al Shorta SC. Archived from the original on 25 July 2014.
  16. ^ "All Soccer Matches - 13 April 2014". Goalzz.
  17. ^ "Al Shorta - 2013-14 Season Review". Al Shorta SC. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016.
  18. ^ "AFC Cup 2015 - Al Shorta 6-2 Wad Alness". The AFC. 17 March 2015.
  19. ^ "Goals of Al Shorta and Wadi Al-Ness 6-2 - AFC Cup". Youtube (in Arabic). Goals of the Iraqi League 2015. 18 March 2015.
  20. ^ "Goals of Al Shorta 4-0 Al-Jazeera - AFC Cup 2015". Youtube (in Arabic). Goals of the Iraqi League 2015. 12 May 2015.
  21. ^ Stokkermans, Karel (16 July 2015). "Iraq 2014/15". RSSSF.
  22. ^ "AFC Cup 2015 - Al-Shorta 0-2 Kuwait". The AFC. 27 May 2015.
  23. ^ Al-Khafaji, Mohammed (15 July 2015). "Al-Shorta's management renews contracts of Waleed and Dhurgham" (in Arabic). No. 3411. Al-Mada Newspaper.
  24. ^ "Spanish club Girona offers to sign Dhurgham Ismail" (in Arabic). Al-Fayhaa. 1 August 2015.
  25. ^ "Dhurgham Ismail calls for Al Shorta to give him the release". Al-Qurtas News (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 9 August 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  26. ^ "Rizespor'a Yeni Ali Adnan!" (in Turkish). iddaalı haber. 4 August 2015. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015.
  27. ^ "RIZESPOR VS. ANTALYASPOR 5 - 1". Soccerway. 19 September 2015.
  28. ^ "RIZESPOR VS. ANKARA ADLIYESPOR 2 - 0". Soccerway.
  29. ^ "AFC U-16 Championship Goals of Iraq 3-0 Kuwait". Youtube (in Arabic). Iraq WorldCup. 27 October 2010.
  30. ^ Di Maggio, Roberto (2 May 2013). "Asian U-16 Championship 2010". RSSSF.
  31. ^ "Arab Cup U-20 - Morocco". Goalzz.
  32. ^ "Arab Cup U-20 - Jordan". Goalzz.
  33. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 - England vs. Iraq". FIFA.com. 23 June 2013. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013.
  34. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 -Iraq vs. Egypt". FIFA.com. 26 June 2013. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013.
  35. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 - Iraq vs. Paraguay". FIFA.com. 3 July 2013. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013.
  36. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 - Iraq vs. Korea Republic". FIFA.com. 7 July 2013. Archived from the original on 9 July 2013.
  37. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 - Ghana vs. Iraq". FIFA.com. 13 July 2013. Archived from the original on 16 July 2013.
  38. ^ "AFC U-22 Championship 2013 - Saudi Arabia 1-3 Iraq". The AFC. 12 January 2014.
  39. ^ "Iraq vs. Uzbekistan: AFC U22 Championship 2014". Youtube. The AFC Hub. 14 January 2014.
  40. ^ Siraj, Syed Nadim (27 January 2014). "Iraq clinches AFC U22 crown". MuscatDaily. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  41. ^ "Athletes Profile - Dhurgham Ismail Dawood". Incheon 2014. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015.
  42. ^ "Match Results - Iraq 4-0 Nepal". Incheon 2014. 14 September 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  43. ^ "Match Results - Kuwait 0-3 Iraq". Incheon 2014. 21 September 2014. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015.
  44. ^ "Match Results - Iraq 4-2 Tajikistan". Incheon 2014. 26 September 2014. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015.
  45. ^ "Match Results - Saudi Arabia 0-3 Iraq". Incheon 2014. 28 September 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  46. ^ "Match Results - Thailand 0-1 Iraq". Incheon 2014. 2 October 2014. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015.
  47. ^ "Iraq vs. Yemen - 12 January 2013". Soccerway (in Arabic).
  48. ^ "Iraq vs. Yemen 2-0". Youtube (in Arabic). ALRAFIDAIN. 12 January 2013. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  49. ^ "Iraq vs. Bahrain - 15 January 2013". Soccerway (in Arabic).
  50. ^ "UAE vs. Iraq - 18 January 2013". Soccerway (in Arabic).
  51. ^ "Unattached Mahmoud named in Iraq squad". FourFourTwo.
  52. ^ "QF3: Iran v Iraq - AFC Asian Cup 2015". AFC Asian Cup on Youtube. 23 January 2015.
  53. ^ "Asian Cup 2015: Iraq claims incredible shootout win over rival Iran to reach semi-finals". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 23 January 2015.
  54. ^ "UAE take third over Iraq in AFC Cup". ESPN FC. 30 January 2015.
  55. ^ Ogrady, Ryan (4 February 2015). "Asian Cup 2015 Team of the Tournament". VAVEL.
  56. ^ "Chinese Taipei 0-2 Iraq - 2018 World Cup qualifiers". Youtube (in Arabic). Arab Soccer HD. 17 November 2015.
  57. ^ Dhurgham Ismail at Soccerway
  58. ^ a b "Dhurgham Ismail". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  59. ^ "Iraq – Dhurgham Ismail – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway".
  60. ^ "#AC2015 DREAM TEAM". AFC Asian Cup on Twitter. 1 February 2015.
  61. ^ Young Players’ Team of the Season
  62. ^ http://outsideoftheboot.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Super-Lig-Young-Players-2016-17.png [bare URL image file]
  63. ^ "World Soccer 500". World Soccer. 27 March 2015.
  64. ^ "FourFourTwo's 50 Best Asian Players 2015: 25-21". FourFourTwo. 13 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  65. ^ Ahmed Rizvi (25 January 2015). "'Lions of Mesopotamia' uniting a war-torn Iraq at the Asian Cup". The National (Abu Dhabi). Retrieved 17 December 2017.
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