Adnan Dirjal
# Adnan Dirjal

Adnan Dirjal (Arabic: عدنان درجال مطر; born 26 January 1960 in Baghdad) is an Iraqi former footballer, national team coach, and as of May 2020 heads the Iraqi Ministry of Youth and Sports. He was one of Iraq's most prominent national team captains, who played as a defender.

On 14 September 2021 he won the presidency of the Iraqi Football Association.

## Club career

Adnan, a defender, started his career with Al-Zawraa, where he won the Iraqi league and cup double in 1978/1979. He went on to join Al-Talaba, where he was one of the stars of a team that included Haris Mohammed, Jamal Ali and the great Hussein Saeed. At Al-Talaba Adnan won the Iraqi league two times and reached two cup finals.

His most successful club spell came at Al-Rasheed, the club owned by Saddam Hussein's eldest son Uday, where he captained the club and won three Iraqi league titles, two cups and a record three Arab Club Championships during the mid to late 80s.

## Political career

He secured a position in Iraqi PM Mustafa Al-Kadhimi's cabinet in May 2020 when he was appointed Minister of Youth and Sports.

## International career

Adnan made the step into international football early, helping Iraq win both the CISM World Military Championship and the Gulf Cup in 1979. He later played at three Olympic Games, in 1980, 1984 and 1988, three Gulf Cup victories, and the Asian Games win over Kuwait in 1982. The biggest disappointment in a glittering career was missing the World Cup finals in Mexico in 1986 through injury.

### International goals

Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first.

| No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1. | 25 March 1981 | Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh | Bahrain | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2. | 28 March 1984 | Royal Oman Police Stadium, Muscat | Qatar | 1–0 | 1–1 | 7th Arabian Gulf Cup |
| 3. | 27 September 1986 | Daegu Stadium, Daegu | Thailand | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1986 Asian Games |

## Personal life

He has three sons and one daughter. One of them is Muhannad Darjal, who played professionally for Al Wakrah as a defender.

