Osama Rashid

Osama Jabbar Shafeeq Rashid (; born 17 January 1992) is an Iraqi professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Erbil SC and the Iraq national team.

Club career Youth career Born in Kirkuk, Iraq, Rashid joined Feyenoord in 1999 from ZOB, an amateur club from Zuidoostbeemster. He spent more than a decade with the youth setup of the club and was part of one of the most promising crops of players to ever graduate from the academy in recent years. Other graduates included Stefan de Vrij, Jordy Clasie, Bruno Martins Indi, and Luc Castaignos amongst others. Rashid suffered an Injury in the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship which prevented him from training with the first which he believes affected his chances with the first team. Rashid was not offered a professional contract once he turned 18 years old and therefore did not continue his career with Feyenoord.

Den Bosch and failed transfer to Werder Bremen Rashid signed for FC Den Bosch following his release from Feyenoord. He played the 2011–12 season in the Eerste Divisie, the second division of professional football in the Netherlands. He played 12 times scoring twice while Den Bosch finished sixth in the league and failed to qualify to the Eredivisie. Rashid left Den Bosch at the end of the season.

In 2012, Wolfgang Sidka, a former Werder Bremen player who was coach of Iraq at the time, arranged a trial for Rashid at the Bundesliga club. He was invited for another trial and was ultimately offered a contract by Werder Bremen, which he turned down citing his desire to finish his studies. Rashid has since stated that negotiations between Feyenoord and Werder Bremen had failed even though Feyenoord were not entitled to financial compensation.

Excelsior Maassluis Looking for more game time, Rashid signed for third tier side Excelsior Maassluis for the 2012–13 season. He made his debut as a late substitute against Slavia Sofia on matchday 3. Rashid left Bulgaria quickly as he failed to adjust to life there and returned to Portugal joining C.D. Santa Clara.

Santa Clara Rashid's signing was announced by LigaPro side Santa Clara on 24 January 2017. He made his debut for Santa Clara as a second-half substitute in a match versus Gil Vicente on 12 February. He had his first start on three days later in 2–0 win against Cova Piedade and scored his first goal. The team finished the season in 10th position, missing out on promotion.

At the start of the following season, Rashid scored in his first matches of the season in both the cup and the league. He then scored three more goals in the following three games, to start the season scoring in each of the first four league games. He registered his first assist on 9 September against CF União Madeira in his team's 2–1 win. Rashid was injured in January and it took him almost three months to recover, he returned to action against CD Nacional, assisting twice in a 3–3 draw. Rashid then scored in the next two games, against Famalicão and Oliveirense to help Santa Clara win promotion and reach Primeira Liga.

In his first season in the Portuguese top flight. Osama scored three and assisted another three in his first six games of the season. He started the first 14 games playing as a left, centre, or defensive midfielder. He missed the next four games on international duty at the 2019 Asian Cup, in which Iraq was knocked out in the round of sixteen by eventual champions Qatar. On the matchday 21 fixture against Boavista Osama ruptured his knee ligament and was subbed off in the 31st minute. He missed five games due to injury, before returning as a second-half substitute against Vitória Guimarães. He ended the domestic season with 25 games, 7 goals, and six assists while Santa Clara finished in 10th place with 42 points.

Gaziantep On 23 January 2021, Rashid signed with Turkish club Gaziantep for seasons. until the end of the season. In a press release, Santa Clara said it had accepted the athlete's "request to leave", who received a "proposal for an attractive project, both from a sporting and financial point of view". The Azoreans also highlight that the Iraqi arrived in the Azores as a "perfect unknown" and who after five seasons became a "leading figure of the institution", a "son of the land" and a "living legend" of the club. “To Rashid, one of the greatest ever in our history" Osama only lasted half a season with Gazintep, his performance did not meet expectations as the club went from 4th on the day of his arrival to finishing 15th at the end of the season.

Khor Fakkan On 8 June 2021, Rashid signed with UAE club Khor Fakkan.

International career

Netherlands U-17 Having moved to the Netherlands as a child, Rashid was eligible and played for the Netherlands U17 team representing them 11 times. He was part of the squad that played the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship reaching the final of the tournament which was lost to Germany. Rashid made two appearances for the dutch U19 team.

Rashid was mainly overlooked in the following four years, making sporadic appearances as Iraq went through six managers in four years. Nonetheless, Iraq's manager Srečko Katanec brought Rashid back to the team for the 2019 Asian Cup. He played a disappointing 45 minutes in Iraq's first game, a 3–2 win against Vietnam, and did not feature the rest of the tournament as Iraq were knocked out in the round of 16 by eventual champions Qatar.

Personal life Osama has a degree in Sports Marketing,

International

Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rashid goal. + List of international goals scored by Osama Rashid

Individual Primeira Liga Goal of the Month: September 2018