Peter Saeed Easho Murad () (born 1928) is a former international Iraqi

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 was one of the first players to play in first

Iraq national football team The Iraq national football team () represents Iraq in men's international football and is controlled by the Iraq Football Association (IFA), the governing body for football in Iraq. Iraq's usual home venue is the Basra International Stadium. I ...

, he also played for

Al-Minaa Al-Mina'a Sports Club () is an Iraqi multi-sport club based in Al-Maqal, Basra that participates in the Iraq Stars League, the top tier of Iraqi football. It is one of the most popular clubs in Iraq, particularly in the south, and became the ...

, and with the reserve team of English club

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

during the 1960s.

Early years

Saeed Easho was the son of an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

priest, who had settled in the city of

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

in the early 20th century from the heart of the old

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Saeed excelled at football at his primary school in the district of Al-Ashar and at

Thanawiyat Al-Basra Thanawiyat Al-Basra (), was an Iraqi football team based in Al-Ashar, Basra. The club was founded in the 1920s, and in 1931, the team played against the Bahrain national football team, Bahrain national team in Basra and was able to defeat them wi ...

and was chosen to play for the Basra Select side while in school, taking on

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

sides based in the city during

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He had left the country to study but returned to work as a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

for the Basra Petroleum Company (B.P.C.) and the

Club.

International career

In April 1951, Easho started playing for the first

, He was called by coach Dhia Habib to play in the first

international friendly An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

in the history of Iraqi football. On 6 May 1951, Saeed played his first international against Turkey B in Turkey, which ended 7–0 for Turkey B.

Travel and play for Man. United

After the Iraqi team return to

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, Easho and his friend the player Percy Lynsdale left to study abroad, as well as he spent one year with the reserve team of English club

during the 1960s.

Honours

Club

Iraq FA Cup The Iraq Cup (), commonly known as the Iraq FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in men's domestic Football in Iraq, Iraqi football organised by the Iraq Football Association. Firs ...

** Winner 1948–49 with

Sharikat Naft Al-Basra Sharikat Naft Al-Basra (), known as BPC for short, was an Iraqi football team based in Basra which represented the Basra Petroleum Company. They became Iraq's first ever national cup winners when they won the 1948–49 Iraq FA Cup that was playe ...

References

External links

Iraq – Record International Players – Hassanin Mubarak

Al-Minaa Club: Sailors of south
{{DEFAULTSORT:Easho, Saeed 1928 births Living people Iraqi men's footballers Men's association football defenders Al-Minaa SC players Footballers from Basra Iraqi people of Turkish descent Iraqi Christians Iraq men's international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Manchester United F.C. players Assyrian footballers