Salih Sadir Salih Al-Sadoun ( ar, صالح سدير صالح السعدون; born 21 August 1981) is an Iraqi former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Previously, Sadir played with Rah Ahan and

Paykan The Paykan ( fa, پيکان meaning ''Arrow'') is the first Iranian-made car produced by Iran Khodro (formerly called "Iran National") between 1967 and 2005. The car was very popular in Iran from its introduction until its discontinuation. I ...

in the

Persian Gulf Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League ( fa, لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Pro League ( fa, links=no, لیگ برتر ایران, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is the highest division of profe ...

. He also played for the

Iraq national football team The Iraq national football team ( ar, منتخب العراق لكرة القدم) represents Iraq in international football and is controlled by the Iraq Football Association (IFA), the governing body for football in Iraq. Iraq's usual home ...

between 2002 and 2011. He has two younger brothers, Ayad and Qaed, both also footballers.

Club career

Sadir started his playing career with Nasour Al-Jumhuriya before joining

Najaf FC Al-Najaf Sports Club ( ar, نادي النجف الرياضي) is an Iraqi professional football club based in Najaf. They are members of the Iraqi Premier League. Al-Najaf has competed in the 2007 AFC Champions League. History In 1960, the cit ...

where he progressed through the youth ranks under coach Zuhair Khadim. In 1999, he was promoted into the first team by Najih Hemoud and became a regular. Under coach Hemoud,

became one of Iraq's most entertaining teams with Saleh Sadeer – and captain

Falah Hassan Falah Hassan ( ar, فلاح حسن, born 1 July 1951) is a former Iraqi international football player, and current president of Al-Zawraa Sport Club in Baghdad. Early life Falah Hassan was born in 1951 in the village of Mimouna, in a district of ...

, Abbas Wahoudi, Saeed Muhsin, Ali Hashim and Qasim Jalout. In 2003 after the war, he moved to Al-Talaba where he made several outstanding performances in the

Arab Champions League The Arab Club Champions Cup ( ar, كأس العرب للأندية الأبطال, french: Ligue des Champions Arabe) is an annual regional club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by el ...

– which earned him a move to Egyptian giants

Zamalek SC Zamalek Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الزمالك للألعاب الرياضية), commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an Egyptian sports club based in Giza. It is one of the most successful football clubs in Africa and the Middle East, an ...

for next season. After playing one season with

, he joined Lebanon league champions Al-Ansar where he helped them to two consecutive Lebanon league titles. Sadir moved to

Zakho Zakho, also spelled Zaxo ( ku, زاخۆ, Zaxo, syr, ܙܵܟ݂ܘܿ, Zākhō, , ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, at the centre of the eponymous Zakho District of the Dohuk Governorate, located a few kilometers from the Iraq–Turkey b ...

on 14 September 2013. On 11 February 2022, Sadir announced his retirement from football.

International career

Sadir played for the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

team in the qualifying rounds – his performances compensated for the absence of

Nashat Akram Nashat Akram Abid Ali Al-Eissa ( ar, نشأت أكرم عبد علي العيسى) (born 12 September 1984) is a former Iraqi professional footballer. Popularly dubbed "The Maestro" and "The Musician", Akram usually played as a playmaker or as ...

in Iraq's midfield. Before the war, he was named one of the two best players in the 2003–04 season by an Iraqi FA panel and became a regular in Stange's Olympic squad making his debut in the 2–1 defeat to Qatar in the former Oman and Perth Glory coach's first game in charge of Iraq. Saleh Sadeer was one of

Bernd Stange Bernd Walter Stange (born 14 March 1948) is a German football manager who last managed the Syria national team. During his playing career, he played for Chemie Gnaschwitz, Vorwärts Bautzen, and HSG DHfK Leipzig as a defender. Playing caree ...

's favourite players when the German first arrived in Iraq. He scored an important goal in the 1–1 draw with

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

that helped Iraq to progress to the second round.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sadir goal''.

Honours

Ansar *

Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division ( ar, الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الأولى), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. There are 12 teams competing in the league, ...

: 2005–06, 2006–07 *

Lebanese FA Cup The Lebanon Cup (), commonly known as the Lebanese FA Cup, is a Lebanese football annual cup competition. The first edition, held in 1937, was won by Nahda. The most successful club in the competition is Ansar with 15 titles, followed by Nejmeh ...

: 2005–06, 2006–07 Ahed * Lebanese FA Cup: 2008–09 Individual * Lebanese Premier League Best Player: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 * Lebanese Premier League Player of the Week: 2008–09 *

Lebanese Premier League Team of the Season The Al-Manar Football Festival () was an event organised by the Al-Manar television station between the 1996–97 and 2018–19 seasons in order to award players, managers, referees and teams who were considered to have performed the best over ...

: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 * Lebanese Premier League top scorer: 2008–09

References

External links

* * *
Salih Sadir
at iraqsport.com
Salih Sadir
at aliraqi.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Sadir, Salih 1981 births Living people People from Najaf Iraqi footballers Association football midfielders Association football forwards Najaf FC players Al-Talaba SC players Zamalek SC players Al Ansar FC players Al Ahed FC players Rah Ahan players Safa SC players Paykan F.C. players Duhok SC players Zakho FC players Al-Zawraa SC players Naft Al-Wasat SC players Al-Mina'a SC players Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya players Iraqi Premier League players Lebanese Premier League players Persian Gulf Pro League players Olympic footballers of Iraq Iraq international footballers 2004 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics 2007 AFC Asian Cup players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players AFC Asian Cup-winning players Iraqi expatriate footballers Iraqi expatriate sportspeople in Lebanon Iraqi expatriate sportspeople in Iran Expatriate footballers in Lebanon Expatriate footballers in Iran Lebanese Premier League top scorers