Hakeem Shaker (; born 7 January 1963 in Baghdad, Iraq), is a former Iraqi football player and manager. At some point between late 2012 and early 2013, Hakeem was the first and only Iraqi coach to manage three Iraqi national teams (Iraq senior team, Olympic team and Youth team) at the same time.
Coaching career
Iraq U-20
In 2011 Hakeem Shaker was appointed as Iraq U-20 coach and he led Iraq to qualify to the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship finals without any loss in the qualifications and reached the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship final undefeated, only to lose to South Korea on Penalty kicks 1-4 after 1–1 draw, leading Iraq to qualify to the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey.
Iraq Olympic Team
In 2012 Hakeem was appointed as Iraq Olympic Team in the same time as being the coach of the Iraq U-20 coach. Hakeem lead the Olympic team to qualify to the 2013 AFC U-22 Asian Cup passing the qualifications without any loss.
Iraq national football team
In December 2012, after the resignation of Iraq national football team coach Zico, and being one week from the 2012 WAFF Championship kickoff, an emergency call made by Iraq Football Association to appoint Hakeem Shaker to be Iraq national football team temporary coach and caretaker until a new coach would be appointed. Hakeem led Iraq to reach the 2012 WAFF Championship final undefeated but lost the final to Syria 0–1. Later in January 2013, similar scenario occurred when Hakeem led Iraq to the 21st Arabian Gulf Cup finale after 4 Consecutive wins, defeating Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, and Bahrain, but failing to defeat UAE in the final, UAE won in the extra time 1–2.
On January 24, 2013, Hakeem Shaker was supposed to be appointed officially as the Iraq national team head coach and to lead Iraq in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification, however despite the win against Indonesia 1–0 in the first match in the qualifications, on February 8, 2013, Hakeem decided to leave the Iraq first team to another coach and focus on the Iraq U-20 team in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Iraq U-20
In the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup Hakeem led Iraq to 4th place for the first time in Iraq history after winning Iraq's group over Chile 2–1, Egypt 2–1, and a draw with England 2-2. Then in the round of 16 Iraq won over Paraguay 1–0, then on quarterfinals won over the Asian champions South Korea on Penalty kicks 5-4 after a draw 3-3. However, in the semifinals Iraq lose on Penalty kicks 6-7 by Uruguay after a draw 1-1. In the 3rd place match Iraq had their first defeat to Ghana 0–3.
Iraq Olympic Team
On latter half of 2014, failed to win the 2014 Asian Games gold medal after Iraq U23 loss in the semi-finals against North Korea U23 in the 2014 Asian Games Although participated Younis Mahmoud & Salam Shaker and Mahdi Karim and most of the national team players. Then a poor results with two draw in friendly matches against Yemen and Bahrain and a defeat with Peru, and following Iraq defeat to Kuwait & UAE, draw against Oman in 22nd Arabian Gulf Cup, were eliminated in the group stages. Due to this after a run of poor results, the FA decided he sacked on 29 November 2014.
Al-Suwaiq
In October 2016, he signed with Oman Professional League team Al-Suwaiq, the club finished 6th in the league that season. On 26 March 2018, he returned to Al-Suwaiq with signing contract. the team was at the top of the league four points clear of the nearest rival before taking over. He ended up with winning the league with the Omani team.
Al-Zawraa
On 26 February 2019, Shaker signed for the Al-Zawraa, after the resignation of Ayoub Odisho. He led the team through the AFC Champions League. The team collected 8 points but failed to advance to the next round. The team made impressive games against Al-Wasl F.C. in two games winning 5-0 Karbala Sports City stadium, and 5–1 in Zabeel Stadium. And drawing with Zob Ahan SC 0–0 with 5 days to prepare. But also losing 4–1 to Al-Nassr FC. Zawraaqualified to the final by winning Amanat Baghdad 2–0, and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 4–1. The team played Al-Kahrabaa FC in the final and ended up winning 1-0 by the goal of Safaa Hadi.
Managerial statistics
TeamNatFromToRecordGWDLWin %Al-Jaish SC (Baghdad)19921994Al-Difaa Al-Jawi19992000Iraq U20May 2008November 2008Iraq U20April 2011July 2013Iraq U23June 2012July 2012IraqDecember 2012February 2013Iraq12 September 20134 January 2014Iraq U234 January 20148 October 2014Iraq7 November 201429 November 2014Al-Shorta SC12 July 201520 October 2015Suwaiq Club28 October 201627 May 2017Suwaiq Club20 March 20183 June 2018Al-Zawraa26 February 201919 September 2019Suwaiq Club7 February 20217 April 2021Al-Faisaly SC8 August 202121 August 2021Total
Managerial honours Club Al-Jaish FC (Iraq) Iraq FA Cup: 1994-1995 (Runner Up) Al-Difaa Al-Jawi Al-Quds International Championship: 1999 Ararat Kurdistan Regional Cup: 2006 Al-Suwaiq Sultan Qaboos Cup: 2016-17 Oman Professional League: 2017-18 Al-Zawraa Iraq FA Cup: 2018-19
International Iraq U-23 AFC U-23 Championship: 2013 Asian Games: 2014 (Bronze Medal)
References
External links