BOSTON (WHDH) - When the Iraq national football team takes the field at Boston Stadium in Foxboro Tuesday, star striker Aymen Hussein will take center stage. The team builds much of its offense around the 30-year-old.
“He’s their star. He’s the guy who scored the goal that sent them to this World Cup,” said Brad Feldman, Broadcaster for the New England Revolution. “Strong, reliable, holding the ball, and he thrives in tense situations when it gets direct.”
Those qualities will be critical against some of the world’s most talented teams.
“He’s going up against Haaland for Norway, arguably the best striker in the world right now,” Feldman said.
Iraq enters the World Cup as an underdog, but reaching the tournament is already a major achievement for the nation.
“They’ve already had their World Cup victory just by getting in,” Feldman said. “The fact that he scored the goal that did it tells you what Hussein means to them.”
For Hussein, the biggest moments may still be ahead.
“If they got, you know, a point or two points in the standings, that’s a win. If they advance, you know, it’s a huge, huge international story in an upset,” Feldman said. “They’ll be singing about him in 25, 50 years. And I’m not exaggerating.”
Hussein has scored the fifth most goals in Iraq’s history.
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