Younis Mahmoud: Leading from the front

Most footballers tend to think only of themselves when it concerns a dream transfer. But not Iraq National football team captain Younis Mahmoud.

Ever since his winning goal in the Asia Cup Final against Saudi Arabia, one that changed not just his life but that of a million Iraqis, Mahmoud has been in the spotlight.

His talent has attracted plenty of attention from Europe with clubs like Marseille and Manchester City expressing an interest in the services of the 25-year-old who currently plays for Qatar's Al Gharrafa.

But if Mahmoud does go on to play among Europe's elite, he does not plan on leaving his team mates behind and also stressed that failure would not be an option. "My plan is to earn the trust of players and teams of Europe so I can eventually help my team mates also achieve the same thing," said Mahmoud on the sidelines of an award ceremony held in honour of the Iraqi team by their sponsors LG.

"I don't want to go and just try out," he added, "I want to go and directly succeed in Europe and play with the best of teams." Recalling his goal which made people of the war-torn nation briefly forget about their plight, Mahmoud's smile said it all.

"It meant a lot to me personally, the team and all the Iraqi people. "We are the only Arab team or otherwise who don't train at home. We have to go somewhere else to train. We are a suffering country and have suffered lot of misery throughout the years and especially recently. This [Asia Cup win] has given the Iraqis hope and moral support so it definitely means a lot," he said.

Charitable Younis

After winning the 2006-2007 Qatar League Top scorers award, he received a $100,000 (Dh367,000) award from the Qatar Football Association which he donated for building a mosque in his home town of Kirkuk.

After winning the La Gazzetta dello Sport's Facchetti award, he got a cheque of 10,000 euro (Dh53,898) which he donated to Iraqi charity.