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Brief
History
Aram
Karam is known as one of the finest and most accomplished soccer players
from Iraq. He began his athletic career in 1936 playing for local teams
in the district of Henedi, today know as Al-Rashid Military Camp. He then
moved to Habbaniya and played for various teams until 1943, when he joined
the varsity team, one of the strongest teams in Habbaniya. This team included
a number of Assyrian soccer stars such as Shmouel Eshay (Sammy), father
of the international soccer player, Gilbert Sammy.
After the team was
disbanded in 1947, Aram went onto play for and captain Levy Civilian.
Aram
Karam was distinguished as a great player particularly for his uncanny ability
in scoring accurate goals. He had the unique ability to score goals
from distances of up to 50 yards, with either his right or left foot.
In
1951, he was selected to play as an international player for Iraq's first ever
National Team, competing in its first international game in Ankara, Turkey.
He missed Iraq’s first international game against Turkey in Izmir on May
6th, which ended 7-0 to the hosts, but competed in the second game six days
later against Ankara Select. Aram proved to be a valuable player on the day as
he scored Iraq’s first goal and ended the game with four goals but was unable to
prevent a 7-5 defeat.
During
that same year a select team was formed at Habbaniya for which Aram was
chosen. This hand picked team achieved a respectable number of championships
against other teams from Baghdad including: the Police Team, Air Force
Team, and the Royal Guard Team.
In 1952 Aram moved to Karkuk (Province
of Al-Taamim), and there he began playing for a newly formed team called
the I.P.C. (Iraqi Petroleum Company) team. Aram
was the team captain and head coach of the oil company team. This team
won six consecutive years in the Middle East Oil Companies Championships
under his leadership.
Aram
was a quick, dominating, outstanding player and a dead-ball specialist. His
penalty kicks were so powerful that it was said that could tear a hole in the
net. In a wink of an eye,
he could slam the ball into the goal as a bullet. His fans still remember
the three exciting goals he scored while playing against the Iranian Taj
team in 1956. Soccer fans would agree, Aram Karam’s kicking power was unparalleled.
In 1960 he retired
and was appointed to be in charge of sports in the pipeline areas of the
Iraqi Petroleum Company. Additionally, Aram was a great asset as advisor to the Iraqi National Soccer Association
in the selection of their national team.
Aside
from soccer, Aram was also an accomplished tennis player, winning six consecutive
years as he competed in the Persian Gulf Tennis Championships.
In
1992 Aram immigrated to the United States, and currently lives in Turlock,
California.
He
scored approximately 600 goals in his soccer career Which included
35 international
games. |
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