Douglas Aziz

Douglas Aziz Shamasha Eshaya (Arabic: دوكلاص عزيز‎‎ (born 1 January 1942) is a former Iraq national football player and caretaker coach. He is from Iraq's Christian minority, and an ethnic Assyrian.^[1]

He was a pillar for club and country during the late 1960s and through the 1970s. He made his league debut in 1963 and spent 15 inspiring seasons with Aliyat Al-Shurta and with merger club Al-Shurta, where he was a key figure in the side along with Abid Kadhim, Majeed Ali, Latif Shandal and Riyadh Nouri. He became the first outfield player in the Iraqi League to play as a goalkeeper when he was forced to go in goal for the final few minutes of a 5-2 win over Al-Tijara after an injury to Raad Hammoudi. After making his international debut in 1967, Douglas quickly became a key influence as the midfield general in the heart of the Iraqi team.

With the national team, he played in the 1974 World Cup qualifiers in Australia, where Iraq finished second behind the hosts, the 1972 and 1976 Asian Cups in Thailand and Iran, and in the Olympic qualifiers in 1968 and 1972. Douglas was also an important part of the Iraqi army team that won the 1972 and 1977 CISM World Military Championship.

Douglas played for the Iraqi national team until 1978 and retired from playing a year later. He went on to coach at Al-Shurta and in his first season in charge, led the club to their first ever league title in 1979-1980. He continued to coach the club's youth teams after stepping down as head coach in 1983, but was renamed coach of the first team in 1985.^[2]

In 1989, he stepped down as coach of Al-Shurta to work full-time as assistant to Under-19s coach Bill Asprey. Douglas was also assistant coach to Ammo Baba in the national team set-up from 1983–1984.

He coached Al-Khutot, Salah-Al-Deen and Al-Karkh in the 1990s before leaving Iraq to settle in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Douglas is in the Al Shorta Hall of Fame.^[3]

References

External links

• Douglas Aziz – FIFA competition record