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Alaa Mhawi
Personal information
Full name	Alaa Ali Mhawi
Date of birth	3 June 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	Baghdad, Iraq
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Right-back
Team information
Current team	Al-Karkh
Youth career
	Ammo Baba School
Senior career*
Years	Team
2011–2015	Al-Kahraba
2015–2017	Al-Zawraa
2017	Al-Batin
2017–2021	Al-Shorta
2021–2022	Al-Zawraa
2022–2023	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
2023–	Erbil
International career‡
2011–2013	Iraq U17
2013–2014	Iraq U19
2015–2016	Iraq U23
2016–	Iraq
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 August 2017; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 June 2021

Alaa Ali Mhawi (Arabic: علاء علي مهاوي; born 3 June 1996)^[2] is an Iraqi professional footballer who plays as a right back for Iraq Stars League club Al-Karkh and the Iraqi national team.

Club career

Youth career

Mhawi was graduated from the prestigious Ammo Baba Football School, situated opposite the Al-Shaab Stadium, one of Iraq's biggest stadiums, where he spent the early part of his football education. Many other Iraqi footballers have come out of the school such as Ali Adnan.^[3]

Al Kahraba

After leaving the Ammo Baba school, Alaa signed for Al Kahraba. His club was relegated to the Iraqi First Division League in 2013 but Alaa helped the club to promotion the following year where he scored 4 league goals as a defender.^[4]

Al Zawraa

In 2015, Mhawi signed a one-year contract for Iraqi giants Al Zawra'a. Ala'a won another league title, this time however it was the Iraqi Premier League. His impressive showing with 6 goals from the fullback position earned him a two-year contract extension.^[5]

In the 2016/17 season, Mhawi played in the AFC Cup, Asia's second-tier continental tournament. During the AFC Cup, Mhawi scored 2 goals, one coming against Syrian side Al Jaish on 4 April 2017 and the second coming in a match against defending champions Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya on 22 May 2017 in the zonal Semi-Final, where his team got knocked out. Ala'a left the team shortly before the end of the 2016/17 season, to join Saudi club Al Batin.^[6]

Al Batin

On 17 July 2017, Mhawi signed a professional contract for one season with Saudi Club Al-Batin.^[7] He made his debut on 11 August in a shock 3-1 victory over Ittihad.^[8] His contract was ended by mutual consent on 29 September 2017 after playing only two games.^[9]

Al Shorta

Following his release from Al Batin. Ali returned to Iraq, this time with Al-Shorta. He made his debut on 21 November as a second-half substitute against Karbalaa.

International career

Iraq U-17

Mhawi made his debut for Iraq's Under-17s in 2011 at the age of just 15. He played for the Under-17s over the next 3 years. He went on to make 10 more appearances for the youth side scoring 2 goals in his 11 appearances. At the age of 17, Mhawi played in the 2013 Under-17 World Cup and played in all of Iraq's matches against Sweden,^[10] Mexico^[11] and Nigeria.^[12]

Iraq U-19

Mhawi was called up to the Iraqi Under-19 squad for the AFC Under-19 Championship qualifiers against Bangladesh and Kuwait in October 2013. He scored 20 minutes into his debut as Iraq beat Bangladesh 6-0 and played in the 0-0 draw against Kuwait which saw Iraq top the group and qualify for the 2014 AFC Under-19 Championship.

Alaa played in all 3 of Iraq's matches at the Under-19 Asian Cup in October 2014 against Oman, Qatar and North Korea. Despite Iraq having a higher goal difference and the same number of points as North Korea, they were knocked out at the group stage due to the head-to-head results. He scored his second and final goal in his fifth and final appearance for the Under-19s, which came against North Korea on 14 October 2014.

Iraq U-23

Alaa was called up to the Iraqi Under-23 squad for the 2016 AFC Under-23 Championship qualifiers against Oman, Lebanon, Bahrain and the Maldives in March 2015. He made his debut in Iraq's 4-1 win over Lebanon and played in ever qualifier, being instrumental to Iraq's qualification to the Under-23 Asian Cup.

Alaa was part of the squad which went to Qatar for the Under-23 Asian Championship in 2016. He played in all of Iraq's matches, against South Korea, Uzbekistan, Yemen and the U.A.E. as the young side made it to the semi-final, where they were beaten by eventual champions Japan. In the third-place play-off, which Mhawi played in as well, against Qatar, Iraq won, awarding them with a spot at that summer's Olympics.

As a result of his performance at the Under-23 Asian Championship, Mhawi was included in the squad that went to Brazil for the 2016 Rio Olympics. He featured in 2 of Iraq's 3 matches as they were knocked out at the group stage, despite being unbeaten. In Iraq's match against hosts Brazil, Mhawi's direct opponent was Brazil and FC Barcelona superstar Neymar,^[13] who was expected to be the star man in a Brazil demolition. Mhawi's excellent defending, and occasional attacking, however, prevented Neymar and Brazil from scoring in a match that saw even Brazilian fans applaud the Iraqi team after the match. Mhawi was also key in Iraq's draw with South Africa in their final match as the got knocked out, despite not losing a match.

Iraq

Alaa was called up to the Iraqi senior team following his impressive performances at the Under-23 Asian Championship and the Rio 2016 Olympics. On 21 August 2016 he made his international debut and won his first cap for Iraq against North Korea in a friendly match. Alaa has gone on to play in multiple World Cup qualifiers and friendlies for Iraq, establishing himself as one of the country's best right backs.

Personal life

Alaa is currently based in Baghdad. He is married and he has one daughter called rose. His cousin is also a young professional footballer Amir Aldaraji.^[14]

Playing Style

Mhawi is a very good all-rounder. Despite being a right back, he can be seen scoring goals quite often. Although he is relatively quick, he hasn't got the explosive pace that a lot of full backs have, he makes up for that with his dribbling however, as he is very good on the ball going forwards. He is just as good defensively, stopping many wingers from getting into dangerous areas.^[15]