Al-Hamadi: I Dream of Becoming First Iraqi in the Premier League Thursday, 15th Feb 2024 09:50 by Kallum Brisset Ali Al-Hamadi believes Ipswich Town can make him the first Iraqi to play in the Premier League after scoring his first goal for the club in the 4-0 victory against struggling Millwall at the Den. The striker scored a stoppage-time penalty to put the icing on the cake on a dominant Blues display in the capital, securing just their second win in 10 league matches and moving Town back to within three points of the Championship’s automatic promotion places. Nathan Broadhead’s 10th goal of the season, coupled with a Wes Harding own goal and a Kieffer Moore header set Town on their way in the first half before Al-Hamadi struck from the spot late on. Al-Hamadi says the Blues’ upward trajectory attracted him to moving to Suffolk and dreams of playing in England’s top flight, while not getting carried away and staying firmly grounded. “It’s a club with amazing stability right now and everything’s going in the right direction,” he said following Town’s biggest win of the season. “I’d love to be in the Premier League with Ipswich, it’s always been one of my ambitions as a player. I don’t think there’s ever been an Iraqi to play in the Premier League, that’s always been a dream I’ve grown up thinking about. “But let’s see what happens, I don’t like to think too much about those things. What’s got me here so far is being determined, focused and working hard. That’s what I’m going to continue to keep doing.” Al-Hamadi moved to Town from League Two side AFC Wimbledon last month having impressed in the first half of the campaign with 13 goals and six assists to his name. Asked if he saw the January window as an opportunity to move on, he said: “Not necessarily. Eventually I was thinking in my mind that I want to make the step up, but it had to be the right place. “Ipswich is just an amazing club on an upward trajectory, with an amazing manager who is not here just to win games but here to improve players and help them get better. “Being a young striker, that’s what really attracted me to come and play for Ipswich. It’s the perfect fit. “I’m confident in my ability, it was never something that I was going to back down to. There’s been many strikers before me who have made the step up in recent years, it’s not something that’s uncommon for players to play in lower leagues – most of our changing room has played in League One and League Two. “It’s storylines and narratives sometimes and that’s what the fans speak about. For me, I genuinely don’t think about it like that, I just try and take it game by game. It’s still 11-v-11 on a football pitch, that’s how I treat every game. “Whatever club I’ve been at I’ve built a good connection with the fans. I’m a player that wears my heart on my sleeve, I’m passionate and I’m willing to run around and give my all for the team. It’s been a good start and hopefully I can carry it on now.” Town manager Kieran McKenna celebrated his 100th league game in charge at the Den, and Al-Hamadi says the Northern Irishman was a big pull in deciding to make the switch to Portman Road. “I love football,” he said. “I’ve always been someone who watches every game and I find it hard to switch off sometimes. “The boss is quite similar in his personality, he’s so detailed and intense in the way he works. He keeps you learning and on your toes. “As a young player, these years are crucial for me to keep upping my game and I’m enjoying learning as much as I can off the boys and the gaffer.” Al-Hamadi has enjoyed a remarkable rise in the last year, having only moved to the Dons last January on a free transfer after leaving Wycombe Wanderers. After scoring 27 goals in total during his stint at Plough Lane, the 21-year-old said: “It’s definitely been a whirlwind of a year for me. One thing I will say is that I’ve been raring to go. “It’s not come as a surprise to me because I’ve been so focused and determined, working my nuts off for the past year. If you speak to anyone who has worked with me, they’ll tell you how hungry I am to improve, to perform and reach the highest level. “Sometimes there’s a bit of luck in football. For example, at Wycombe it was quite difficult as I was still young with not a lot of experience and I had experienced strikers ahead of me in Sam Vokes, Garath McCleary and Anis Mehmeti. “Sometimes you just end up with players in front of you and you’ve just got to bide your time and take your opportunities, which is why I ended up leaving and going to Wimbledon. It paid off and I was raring to go. It’s been a mad 12 months and long may it continue.” The Iraq international’s first goal in Town colours came after he had won a penalty having been brought down by Millwall’s Murray Wallace. Conor Chaplin had the ball in his hands and looked set to take it, but captain Sam Morsy intervened and made sure Al-Hamadi was given the opportunity to open his account for the Blues. “Obviously the pen taker is the pen taker, but Skip’s helped me out and said ‘give it to him and let him get his first goal’,” he said. “When you take it off the pen taker you’ve got to be prepared to make sure you score, but Chappers is a good guy and he was buzzing for me after it. “That’s exactly how you dream of getting your first goal in front of a packed away end. What a performance from the boys and it’s a step back in the right direction for what we want to do.” He added: “I try and stay away from social media as people like to create narratives and storylines. I just take it game by game and I’m just enjoying the step-up and learning. The boss has been brilliant with me, honing in on what he wants me to do and what my part is in the team. “I’m buzzing to get off the mark and I’ve got someone beside me in Kieffer who is at the top level. I can learn a lot from him and I’m just trying to soak in as much as possible.” Al-Hamadi continued to heap praise on fellow striker Moore, who now has three goals in as many games, and understands the need to be patient for his first start for the club, having made three substitute appearances so far. He said: “I’ve got a really experienced striker alongside me and George Hirst is out injured as well, so we’ve got really good options in that position. I’m just biding my time and do the talking on the pitch, I’m happy to bide my time and wait for my opportunities. “Me and Kieffer are different types of player, so I can learn from his side of the game and maybe he can take something from my side of the game if he needs to learn anything. “We’re two opposite kinds of players and we bounce off each other. I’m enjoying learning off him in training and watching him in the game as well. “There’s been two games where we’ve been up top together and it felt right. That’s obviously up to the manager whether he sees fit for that to happen depending on the opposition and how he wants to approach the game. I’m sure at some point we might play together and I look forward to that.” On his own role in the side, he said: “I’ve played on the left and right and in the last two games I’ve come on and played off the left side. I think I’m quite versatile and I can do a job across the frontline. “It’s just whatever the manager sees fit and I’ll do whatever the manager wants me to do. I’ve got someone in front of me who is an amazing player and had such a good career up to this date. It’s really nice to have someone like that to help me learn off.” Another player Al-Hamadi appears to have a good relationship with is Morsy, who he says he kept in touch after meeting previously. “I met Samy a few years ago and we always kept in touch on social media,” he said. “It’s a bit of a weird friendship to be honest, I don’t know how we’ve always kept in touch. “He’s been absolutely fantastic with me, he’s helped me settle in and had an arm around my shoulder all the time asking me if I need anything. “He’s one of the best skippers I’ve had if not the best I’ve had already. He’s so focused, so professional and an amazing player as well.” The Blues are on the road again on Saturday, facing a long trip to south Wales to take on Swansea City, a side Al-Hamadi knows well having been a part of their youth setup as a teenager. He said: “I came through at Swansea, I did my scholarship years there and did two years as a pro. I still know a lot of the boys and it’ll be nice to be back now as a player in the Championship. It’s a funny world and it’ll be a nice moment. “We’ve been on a bit of an unfortunate run, I think we’ve played well in a lot of games and probably haven’t had that bit of luck. The keeper made an unreal save in the last game, maybe we come away with all three points. “Football is just moments and little margins. I think tonight was coming for a while to have a dominant performance like that against someone. We’ve had a lot of tough games recently and we’ve got a good run of fixtures now, we need to start making these count and not focus too much on results. “We’ll focus on playing well and doing what we do best and that will probably lead to us having good results.”
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