The selection of Iraqi national team players ahead of facing the Indonesian national team has received sharp criticism, but this does not mean that the Garuda Squad will face weak opponents.
Since announcing the player’s list two days ago, coach Jesus Casas has keep getting criticism from various parties such as football commentator, legends, and local coaches.
This criticism was made due to Casas chose players who were considered unfit to the Iraqi national team. Meanwhile, on the other hand, there are players who are considered to have potential but are ignored by the Spanish coach.
The final response regarding the Iraqi national team players was expressed by former Mesopotamian Lions squad player who won the Asian Cup in Jakarta 17 years ago, Bassem Abbas.
“The Jesus Casas list is okay, but there is a big problem with the names on the list. Honestly when I saw it, I wondered: What the hell is this?” said Abbas as quoted by Winwin.
“I won’t mention it, but I just want to know one thing, why does the coach insist on calling them? Players who have not contributed anything to the Iraqi national team in the past,” he added.
Previously, criticism in a similar tone was also directed at Casas by different people.
Casas also experienced the same situation when selecting players on the first matchday of the 2026 World Cup Qualification against Indonesia. Criticism came, but Casas proved his choice of players was right. Indonesia was crushed 5-1. After that, Iraq was also able to win 1-0 over Vietnam in an away match in Hanoi.
Ahead of the 2023 Asian Cup, once again Casas’ list of players did not receive a positive response. Various criticisms came in response to an amazing result in the group phase. Iraq won 2-1 over Japan, the Indonesian National Team was also defeated 1-3. Apart from that, Iraq won 3-2 over Vietnam.
Aymen Hussein and his friends were at the top of the group at that time, but unfortunately lost in the quarter-finals when they met Jordan, who later became the finalists.
Image source: viva.co.id
