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Brief
History
He
started playing soccer in his early teens with the C.C. and Levy C. teams in
Habbanniah, Iraq.
In 1952 he
joined the B.P.C. team of the city of Basrah, Iraq for which he played until
1953.
After
playing in Basra for three years with the BPC team, he moved to Baghdad in 1955
and immediately appointed as
Captain and Coach of the newly formed Assyrian Athletic Club of Baghdad.
He
was one the members of the legendary 1956 combined Assyrian Team which
played and won 6-3 against the Iranian and Middle East powerhouse Taj team.
In 1957, he joined the Public Transport Service team
and played alongside some marvelous players such as Youel Gerwargis, Aram
Karam, Koko Gerwargis, Sargis Shallo, and the great team captain, the late
Hermis Gabriel. He was selected
to join the Iraqi National Team for the Pan Arab Championship in 1957 held in
Beirut, Lebanon in 1957.
In 1959 Zia again was playing
for the Civil Combined team which visited the Eastern European countries,
and played against some teams from Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and E.
Germany.
Undoubtedly Zia was a great
player of all times. His playing skills and qualifications maintained his
position in the field and enabled him to play in different positions such as
right, center and left halfback, and center forward.
In 1961 he left Iraq to W.
Germany and joined the Frankfurt Eintricht team. Unfortunately he was unable
to renew his contract with this team for another team so he worked as a
coach for local team called Kilsterbach until 1967, when he left Germany and
immigrated to Canada.
Before
retiring from the game in W. Germany in 1962, he combined for over 45 International
games.
In 1971 he chose Australia as his permanent
residence and there he formed an Assyrian soccer team.
He is to present involved in athletic activities and renders his services to
the Assyrian Nineveh Club as advisor and expert in team formation.
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