Laith Hussein Shihaib Al-Tawlid (; born 13 October 1968) is an Iraqi former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and served as the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the Iraqi national team. He was vital to speaking out against

Uday Hussein Uday Saddam Hussein (; 18 June 1964 – 22 July 2003) was an Iraqi politician and businessman. He was the eldest son of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his first wife Sajida Talfah. Owing to his family connections, Uday held various roles i ...

, the chairman of the Iraqi Olympic Committee, who was known for his brutality against the football team.

International career

Hussein made his international debut at the age of 17 in 1986. He played in the

1988 Olympics 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 () ...

in Seoul and helped

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

win the Asian Youth Championship in Doha. In the

World Youth Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

in Saudi Arabia a year later, Hussein was on the verge of joining Spanish giants

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, after scoring one of the goals in a 2–0 win over

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, helping Iraq to top their group, but was denied this move by then-president

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

Managerial career

Hussein was team manager of the Iraqi national team in 2013.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first.''

Honours

Individual * Lebanese Premier League Best Player: 1997–98 *

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 ...

: 1997–98, 1998–99

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hussein, Laith 1968 births Living people Footballers from Baghdad Iraqi men's footballers Iraq men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Iraq Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics 1996 AFC Asian Cup players Qatar Stars League players Al-Rayyan SC players Al-Zawraa SC players Al-Rasheed SC players Al-Wakrah SC players Al Ansar FC players Men's association football midfielders