Abdul Ghani Shahad

Abdul-Ghani started his career as a 19 year old with Al Najaf, and he remained loyal to his boyhood club for 12 years until his retirement in 1999. His first season in 1986/87 was in the second division, and were promoted to the second division one year later. From 1987 onwards, Al Najaf slowly established itself as an important team in the Iraqi league, moving gradually from mid table towards title-contention. Abdul-Ghani was a fixture of the team from '87 onwards alongside Ali Hashim, Hassan Jawad, Mohammed Abdul-Hussein, Haidar Najim, with the team managed by legendary Najih Humoud. The team peaked in the late '90s finishing 3rd in the 94–95 season, and second in the 95–96 season. Abdul-Ghani was an unused substitute as Al Najaf won its first ever silverware, the 7th Umm al-Ma'arik Championship. Towards 1999 Abdul-Ghani has become a bench player who saw very little playtime, so he retired and became the interim manager for 15 matches. Abdul-Ghani Shahad never represented Iraq at any level.

Al Najaf

Abdul Ghani Shahad become the interim manager of Al Najaf in 1999, where he managed the team for 15 games, winning 7 games. Despite his impressive record, Abdul-Ghani was relegated to assistant manager, due to his inexperience. Abdul Ghani Shahad's first full season in charge of Al Najaf was the 2002-03 season, which was cancelled after 29 rounds due to the American Invasion of Iraq with Al-Najaf being in second place before the outbreak of the war. During the season Al Najaf only lost 3 matches and were serious title contenders. The following season was abandoned midway through because of the security situation in the country. The 2004/05 season was the first full season which was completed since the start of the Iraq War, Abdul-Ghani Shahad led Al Najaf to be second on the Euphrates Group, with only one loss. In the Elite stage, Al Najaf finished second in their group, behind Al-Zawraa, and failed to qualify to the championship playoffs. The 2005/06 season was the standout season for Abdul Ghani Shahad and Al Najaf. Abdul Ghani Shahad led the team to a second-place finish in the Central Group A, which meant the qualified to the Elite stage for the second season running. In the Elite stage, Al Najaf managed to finish first in their group and qualifying to the championship playoff, they beat Erbil in the semifinal 5–2 on aggregate. The final against Al-Zawraa was played in Sulaymaniyah on June 24, 2006, the match went to penalties scoreless. Uday Omran and…

As Player

Baghdad Championship Winner 1997–98 with Al-Najaf Iraqi Premier League: Runner up 1995/96 with Al-Najaf

As Manager

Iraqi Premier League: Winner 2014/15 with Naft Al-Wasat Runner up 2005/06 with Al-Najaf Third place 2006/07 with Al-Najaf Cup of Love: Winner 2003 with Al-Najaf Iraq U-23 AFC U-23 Championship: Third place 2016 Iraq U-23 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification : Qualified for the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship