- Wathiq Naji
Football manager infobox
playername = Wathiq Naji
fullname = Wathik Naji Jassim Al-Kaissi
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1940|7|1|mf=y
cityofbirth = Flagicon|IRQ,Baghdad
countryofbirth =Iraq
position =Midfielder Wathiq Naji (
Arabic : واثق ناجي "Wathik Naji Jasim" [Where name واثق inArabic language can be pronounced as Wathiq or Wathik inEnglish language .] ) (born on1 July ,1940 inBaghdad ,Iraq ), is a former Iraqi national football player and Technical Manager (Head Coach) for theIraq national football team . Wathiq Naji had prepared the Iraq national football team for theFIFA World Cup qualification in 1985. Hence, he successfully managed to guide the Iraq national football team to the last qualifying round of the1986 FIFA World Cup inMexico . This came after subsequent and hard fought qualifying rounds which ended with a notable win over theUnited Arab Emirates national football team (The Head Coach of the UAE team wasCarlos Alberto Parreira at that time). Where this is the only time in the Iraq football history that the squad could qualify to theFIFA World Cup . [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-82568909.html New Straits Times, 26 December 2000 ]Academic Qualifications
Naji received a Grad A Certificate for professional Football Coaching in 1978 from the
German Football Association (DFB) inFrankfurt Germany . In 1967, he awarded a Higher Diploma in Football and Sport Science from the German University of physical culture and sport, which is better known as Deutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur und Sport (DHfK) inLeipzig , This university is attached later to theUniversity of Leipzig after theGerman reunification on 3 October 1990. In 1961, he completed his undergraduate study and received a Bachelor of Science degree fromBaghdad Iraq.
Naji attended many professional courses such asCologne 1973,London 1969 andGermany 1983.Personal Information
Wathik Naji married in 1966 from a high educated Iraqi woman and he has one daughter and two sons, his first baby (girl) was born in 1967, then he got his first son on 1969 followed by the second son in 1975. In 2005 he and his wife Mrs. Asia Abdulah Habbib performed their
Hajj inMecca ,Saudi Arabia . He and his family left Iraq and repositioned inKuala Lumpur ,Malaysia due to the current situation in Iraq after2003 invasion of Iraq . He leftMalaysia toLebanon on 10/12/2007 to join Al-Nejmeh football club while his family remain in Malaysia.Career as a Player
From 1958 to 1967, Naji was a player in the
Iraq Super League . From 1963 to 1966 he was player in the Iraq national football team.Career as a Technical Manager
Wathiq Naji was the technical manager of the Iraq national football team for several decades, beginning in the 1970s. As a Technical Manager (Head Coach), he managed to achieve the following honours:
1973-1974 Iraqi national football team.
1974-1975 Iraqi national football youth team – won theAFC Youth Championship cup,Kuwait , 1975.
1979-1980 Iraq national Olympic football team -Qualified to the1980 Summer Olympics
1982 Salahuddin Club, Champion, Won theIraq Super League .
1982 Salahuddin Club, Champion, Won theThe Rovers Cup of the British football enthusiasts.
1983 Salahuddin Club, Champion, Won the Tournament Arab Clubs cup which was Hosted byAl-Wihdat club inJordan .
1984Al-Shorta club, Iraq.
1985Al Zawraa club, Iraq.
1985Iraq national football team -Qualified to the1986 FIFA World Cup inMexico .
1987-1988 Iraq national youth team -Qualified to theAFC U-17 Championship and reached the Fourth Place in Finals,Thailand , 1988.
1989, 1990, 1995, 1996Al-Wihdat ,Jordan - Qualified to theArab Champions League ,Egypt ,Cairo 1996.
1997Tadamon Sour ,Lebanese Premier League ,Beirut ,Lebanon .
1998 AL-Nasr Club,Libyan Premier League ,Libya - Qualified to theArab Cup Winners' Cup (Lebanon 1998).
1999/2000 Al Swihli Club,Libyan Premier League ,Libya - Qualified to theAfrican Cup Winners' Cup .
2001Kuala Lumpur FA ,Malaysian Super League it was known as Malaysian League (M-League) before 2004,Kuala Lumpur ,Malaysia - Qualified to theMalaysia Cup .
2002Bahrain (football club) ,Bahraini Premier League ,Manama ,Bahrain .
2002-2003 Iraq national Olympic football team.
2004Tadamon Sour ,Lebanese Premier League ,Beirut ,Lebanon .
2005-2006 Consultant in theIraqi Football Association (Technical Committee).
2007/2008 Al-Nejmeh Sporting Club,Lebanese Premier League ,Beirut ,Lebanon .
Wathiq Naji coached also many football clubs in Iraq such asAl-Naft , Kut,Al-Sinaa andNajaf FC .References
*New Straits Times [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-82568909.html]
*Atlas Website [http://tripatlas.com/Iraq_national_football_team]
*New Straits Times [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-82587794.html]
*The North European Rec. Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/iraq-coach.html]
*The official website of the Indian Football [http://www.indianfootball.de/data/roverscup.html]
*The North European Rec. Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) [http://www.rsssf.com/players/iraq-coach-champs.html]
*Iraq sport website [http://www.iraqsport.com/imgdb/thumbnails.php?album=4&page=1&sort=td]
*Iraq Football website [http://www.freewebs.com/iraqfootball/IraqLeagueInfo/leaguewinningcoaches.htm]External links
*Wathiq Naji [http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AB%D9%82_%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%8A]
*The National & International Iraqi Information of Soccer [http://www.niiis.com/history1/wathik1.html]
*Lebanese football Website [http://www.lebanese-football.com/lf/absolutenm/templates/newsdetails.asp?articleid=1315&zoneid=17]
*Lebanese football Website [http://www.lebanese-football.com/lf/absolutenm/templates/newsdetails.asp?articleid=1314&zoneid=17]
*The North European Rec. Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/iraq-coach.html]
*Al-Akhbar Newspaper [http://www.al-akhbar.com/ar/node/57158]
*Assafir Newspaper [http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=814&ChannelId=18298&ArticleId=1223&Author=]
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