Ayoub Odisho

Who is Ayoub Odisho?

Ayoub Odisho Barjam is an Iraqi Assyrian former football player and current coach of the northern Iraqi club Erbil SC in the Iraqi premier league.

Ayoub was a tough tackling full-back, who played for Al-Talaba during a playing career that spanned 14 years. The right-sided defender joined the Students club in 1976, making his debut in a 1-0 win over Al-Shurta a year later. The defender, was one of the best defenders in the Iraqi league during the 1980s. He played alongside the likes of Hussein Saeed, Wathiq Aswad, Ali Hussein Shihab, Haris Mohammed and Adnan Dirjal during his career with the great club, helping Al-Talaba to three league titles in 1981, 1982 and 1986.

He made his international debut on the 9th February 1979 in the 1-1 draw with East Germany in a friendly game in Baghdad and went onto make 38 appearances for Iraq, including playing at the 1982 Gulf Cup in the UAE and the Asian Games victory in New Delhi that same year but due to injuries a year on he lost his place in the side to Khalil Allawi. He made his last international appearance in a friendly with Bahrain in 1987.

After retiring in 1991, he went onto coach Al-Talaba and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, leading them to three trophies in the 1996-1997 season. The coach also had a lengthy spell in Lebanon managing Salam Zgharta, Al-Akhaa Ahli Aley and Safa FC. His last coaching job was at Arbil, which he stood down from in late 2011.