Adnan Dirjal is an Iraqi former footballer and national team coach, one of Iraq's most prominent national team captains.

Club career

Adnan, a defender

Defender (football)

Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

, started his career with Al-Zawraa

Al-Zawraa

Al-Zawra'a Sport Club is an Iraqi football club based in Karkh, Baghdad. Al-Zawraa is considered to be one of the best Iraqi football clubs in history, as it has won 12 national titles...

, 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

Hussein Saeed

Hussein Saeed Mohammed is a former Iraqi football player. Hussein Saeed is in 10th place in FIFA’s list of most international matches at 126 matches. He was also in the Iraq national football team's golden team in 1986. He competed for Iraq at the 1980, 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics.Saeed is also...

. At Al-Talaba Adnan won the Iraqi league three times and reached two cup finals.

His most successful club spell came at Al-Rasheed, the club owned by Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...

's eldest son Uday

Uday Hussein

Uday Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti , was the eldest son of Saddam Hussein from his first wife, Sajida Talfah. He was the brother of Qusay Hussein. Uday was for several years seen as the heir apparent of his father; however, Uday lost his place in the line of succession due to his erratic behavior and...

, where he captained the club to three Iraqi league titles, two cups and a record three Arab Club Championships during the mid to late 80s.

International career

Adnan made the step into international football early, helping Iraq

Iraq national football team

The Iraqi national football team represents Iraq in international football and is controlled by the Iraq Football Association. They won the 2007 Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup tournament.-The Golden Generation:...

 win both the CISM World Military Championship and the Gulf Cup

Gulf Cup

The Gulf Cup may refer to either of two association football tournaments:*Gulf Club Champions Cup, for club teams*Gulf Cup of Nations, for national teams...

 in 1979. He later played at three Olympics Games, in 1980

1980 Summer Olympics

The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...

, 1984

1984 Summer Olympics

The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...

 and 1988

1988 Summer Olympics

The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...

, three Gulf Cup victories, and the Asian Games

1982 Asian Games

The 9th Asian Games were held from November 19, 1982 to December 4, 1982 in Delhi, India.An incredible 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of the Olympic Council of Asia.-Sports:...

 win over Kuwait in 1982. The biggest disappointment in a glittering career was missing the World Cup finals

1986 FIFA World Cup

The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...

in Mexico in 1986 through injury.