Luay Salah
Iraqi footballer (born 1982)
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Luay Salah Hassan Al-Khafaji (Arabic: لُؤَيّ صَلَاح حَسَن الْخَفَاجِيّ; born 7 February 1982 in Baghdad, Iraq) is an Iraqi former football player and coach of Al-Zawraa. He played for the Iraq national team as well as for the Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Al-Zawraa, Persepolis and Erbil clubs.[1] He scored 121 Iraqi Premier League goals in his career.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Luay Salah Hassan Al-Khafaji | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 7 February 1982 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Baghdad, Iraq | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Positions | |||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Al-Minaa (Manager) | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–2001 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | (9) | |||||||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | Al-Zawraa | (3) | |||||||||||||||
| 2002–2006 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | (19) | |||||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Persepolis | 8 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2015 | Erbil | (80) | |||||||||||||||
| 2015–2018 | Al-Zawraa | (10) | |||||||||||||||
| Total | – | (122) | |||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2012 | Iraq | 23 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (Assist. coach) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Naft Al-Wasat (Assist. coach) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Naft Al-Wasat (Caretaker) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Erbil SC | ||||||||||||||||
| 2021–2024 | Al-Kahrabaa | ||||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | ||||||||||||||||
| 2025–2026 | Al-Minaa | ||||||||||||||||
| 2026– | Al-Zawraa | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals ‡ National team caps and goals as of 10 July 2009 | |||||||||||||||||
Info
After helping Al Quwa Al Jawiya to the Iraq league title in 2005, Louay Salah Hassan moved to Iran Pro League side Persepolis the following season. The 25-year-old striker gained AFC Champions League experience with Al Quwa Al Jawiya in 2004, scoring a goal against Al Sadd. He was part of the Iraq national team which won the gold medal at the West Asian Games in 2005.
Salah excelled at club level, scoring ten times to steer Arbil FC to the Iraqi league championship in the 2007/08 season, an achievement that earned the club a place at this year's AFC Cup.
At the continental level he netted two goals in the ensuing AFC Cup to steer Arbil FC through to the last 16. In the all-Iraqi affair against compatriots Al Zawra'a, he was again on target as his club emerged 3–1 winners to book a place in the quarter-finals.
The 27-year-old's scoring did not go unnoticed by the newly appointed Iraq coach Bora Miluntinovic, who rewarded him with a place in Iraq's FIFA Confederation Cup squad.
International goals
- Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 November 2002 | Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha |  Bahrain | 2–2 | 2–2 | Friendly match |
| 2 | 1 December 2005 | Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan |  Palestine | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2005 West Asian Games |
| 3 | 8 December 2005 | Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan |  Saudi Arabia | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2005 West Asian Games |
| 4 | 10 July 2009 | Franso Hariri Stadium, Arbil | Palestine | 3–0 | 3–0 | Friendly match |
Coaching career
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Luay Salah started as an assistant coach to Ayoub Odisho in Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in march of 2019.[2]
Managerial statistics
- As of match played 16 July 2022
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Naft Al-Wasat SC (Caretaker) | 19 January 2021 | 21 January 2021 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| Erbil SC | 11 February 2021 | 15 May 2021 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 28.6 | |
| Al-Kahrabaa FC | 9 August 2021 | ""Present"" | 43 | 16 | 12 | 15 | 37.2 | |
| Total | 58 | 20 | 18 | 20 | 34.5 | — | ||
Honours
Club
Country
- 2005 West Asian Games Gold medallist.
- 2007 Asian Cup winner
- 2012 Arab Nations Cup Bronze medallist
Individual
As a Manager
- Iraq FA Cup runners-up: 2021–22
