Soccer-Iraq lean on Younis to spearhead young side at Asian Cup

Reuters

Dec 30 (Reuters) - Iraq's most-capped player Younis Mahmoud was named in the 23-man squad for next month's Asian Cup despite not playing for a club for more than a year. The 31-year-old forward, who skippered the side to the 2007 Asian Cup title, has scored more than 50 goals for Iraq in more than 130 appearances but has not had a club contract since leaving Saudi Arabian outfit Al Ahli in December last year. The talisman has instead represented Iraq's mainly under-23 side at the Asian Games in September, where they won a bronze medal after he scored four goals. Younis was the only player aged over 30 named in Radhi Shenaishil's squad on Monday for the Group D matches in Australia against holders Japan and fellow west Asian sides Palestine and Jordan. Colombus Crew forward Justin Meram, Swindon Town midfielder Yaser Kasim and talented 18-year-old playmaker Human Tareq were also named in the 23. Sydney FC midfielder Ali Abbas, part of the 2007 winning side, missed out on a place in the squad after suffering a serious knee injury last month. Squad: 1-Ali Yasin, 2-Ahmed Ibrahim, 3-Ali Bahjat, 4-Ali Faiz Atiyah, 5-Yaser Kasim, 6-Ali Adnan Kadhim, 7-Amjed Kalaf, 8-Justin Meram, 9-Ahmed Yasin, 10-Younus Mahmoud, 11-Human Tareq, 12-Jalal Hassan Hachim, 13-Osamah Rashid, 14-Salam Shakir, 15-Dhurgham Ismail Dawood, 16-Marwan Hussein, Hassan, 17-Alaa Abdul Zahra Khashen, 18-Samih Saeed Mejbel, 19-Mahdi Kamil Shiltagh, 20-Mohammed Hamed, 21-Saad Abdulameer, 22-Ali Husni Faisal, 23-Waleed Salim (Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; Editing by John O'Brien)