Baghdad The new Spanish coach for the Iraqi national team, Jesus Casas, confirmed that his project with the Lions of Rafidain is long-term.
Casas said, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper “AS” / according to Koura / Today: The Iraqis hope to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, and the challenge we face is to improve every day and apply our way of progress.
He added: My project with Iraq is long-term, and I prefer to follow the philosophy of Simeone (Atletico Madrid coach), it is the most appropriate.
He explained: The president of the League nominated me to coach Iraq, and he knows the president of the Iraqi Football Federation (Adnan Darjal) well, and he wants us to help develop football there and we will do that.
“At the moment, the language is not an obstacle, all the players understand English, and when a player comes who does not speak English, we will provide him with an interpreter,” Casas added.
He stated: We wanted to secure a friendly match between Iraq and Spain, and there were contacts between the two federations, but it did not materialize in the end.
Casas noted that the Spanish ambassador encouraged me to live in Baghdad, a city that is relatively safe and crowded, there are no restrictions in it, and the Iraqi citizen is very generous, it would be an exaggeration to say that I and my assistant were greeted as heroes.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency