[2] A few weeks after signing the contract, however, his deal was terminated for personal reasons and disagreements over promises which were broken by the club.
He made his debut on February 2, 2017 in an Emir cup match Vs Al-Salmiya as a first-half substitute, coming on the field in the 41st minute.
The lively winger had long been touted as the future star of Iraq’s midfield but was continuingly ignored by former national coach Hakim Shaker, in what seemed to have been a personal grudge against him for his public outburst after he was dropped from the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup squad.
[7] Radhi Shenaishil, the Iraqi manager at the time, called Ali up as part of the squad for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.
[8] Ali was instrumental in Iraq winning the Bronze medal in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship and their subsequent qualification to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Ali scored 2 goals in the U-23 Championship, including the equalizer against the UAE in the quarterfinal which took Iraq to extra time and gave them a 3-1 win.