Professional Syriac football player Charbel Shamoon joins Iraq’s Under-19 national team

Syriac footballer Charbel Shamoon, who now plays for Australian club Melbourne City FC, has joined the Iraqi under-19 national team after being invited by team manager and former Iraqi national team footballer Emad Mohammad Ridha.

Iraqi newspapers reported that Shamoon has joined his fellow U19 national team players in their training camp in the Turkish city of Antalya where the team is playing friendly football matches in preparation for the 2023 West Asian Football Federation Championship.

18-year-old Syriac forward midfielder Charbel Shamoon plays in the top youth team of Melbourne City FC, which plays in the top Australian league, and is seen as an emerging talent for the A-League.

The city of Melbourne has a large Syriac (Chaldean-Aramean-Assyrian) community.