Jesús Casas Explained

Jesús Casas
Full Name:Jesús Casas García
Birth Date:23 October 1973
Birth Place:Madrid, Spain
Currentclub:Iraq (manager)
Youthclubs1:GE CASA
Youthyears2:1985–1992
Youthclubs2:Cádiz[1]
Years1:1992–1993
Clubs1:Balón de Cádiz
Years2:1993–1995
Clubs2:Cádiz B
Years3:1994–1995
Clubs3:Sanluqueño (loan)
Years4:1995–1996
Clubs4:Jerez Industrial
Years5:1996–1998
Clubs5:Chiclana
Years6:1998–2001
Clubs6:Puerto Real
Years7:2001–2002
Clubs7:Jerez Industrial
Years8:2002–2003
Clubs8:Puerto Real
Manageryears1:2003–2004
Managerclubs1:Cádiz (youth)
Manageryears2:2004–2005
Managerclubs2:Cádiz B (assistant)
Manageryears3:2005–2007
Managerclubs3:Balón de Cádiz (youth)
Manageryears4:2007–2008
Managerclubs4:Balón de Cádiz
Manageryears5:2008–2009
Managerclubs5:Cádiz B
Manageryears6:2009–2010
Managerclubs6:Rota[2]
Manageryears7:2010–2011
Managerclubs7:Deportes Romero[3]
Manageryears8:2012–2013
Managerclubs8:Conil
Manageryears9:2013–2014
Managerclubs9:Balón de Cádiz (youth)
Manageryears10:2018
Managerclubs10:Watford (assistant)
Manageryears11:2018–2022
Managerclubs11:Spain (assistant)
Manageryears12:2022–
Managerclubs12:Iraq
Medaltemplates: (as manager)

Jesús Casas García (born 23 October 1973) is a Spanish football coach and current manager of the Iraq national team.

Managerial and coaching career

Early career

Casas began his coaching career at age 29 with the youth sides of Cádiz CF. He later worked as match analyst for SD Eibar and FC Barcelona B, before becoming a scout and match analyst at FC Barcelona. He then returned to Cádiz, to become a director of their youth department, and in January 2018, he became an assistant to Javi Gracia at Watford.

In summer 2018, Casas became an assistant to Luis Enrique and Robert Moreno in the Spain national team, a position he held until February 2022.[4]

Iraq

On 5 November 2022, the IFA confirmed that Casas would take charge of the national team for four years on an annual payment of $1m split into monthly wages. Radhi Shenaishil was supposed to lead the national team for the Mexico and Ecuador friendly games in Spain, while Casas would take charge of the games against Costa Rica and Venezuela in Iraq, with his first game coming on 17 November 2022. The following matches were cancelled, as for Costa Rica match due to passport stamp issues at the border, while the match against Venezuela was called off for an unknown reason.[5] [6]

He began with the national team officially on 30 December 2022 in a friendly against Kuwait as a preparatory match for the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup in Basra, which they eventually won after a 3–2 victory over Oman in the final, to be their first title in the competition since 1988.[7]

On 19 January 2024, in the edition of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup held in Qatar, Iraq beat Japan 2-1, in what would be the Japanese’s first group stage loss in the tournament since 1988, and also broke Japan’s 10 win streaks in a row. The win also ensured that Iraq would top their group, which last happened in the 2007 edition of the competition, where Iraq went on to be crowned champions.

In the Round of 16 knockout stage, Iraq lost 2–3 to Jordan, as Aymen Hussein was sent-off during the match for excessive celebration. At the press conference, several Iraqi journalists began to point and yell at Casas, surrounding him in a threatening manner. The situation necessitated the intervention of security who escorted the journalists out. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) later decided to ban those journalists for covering any future AFC tournaments.[8] The Iraqi Football Association showed their full support for Casas following the ordeal, as did the majority of the national team's fans. On 1 February 2024, Casas met with the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani and the President of the Iraqi Football Association Adnan Dirjal where the incident was discussed, with Casas receiving further backing as Al Sudani promised the journalists involved would be investigated.

Managerial statistics

Team! rowspan="2"
FromToRecord
Iraq5 November 2022present
Total

Honours

Manager

Iraq

2023

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Reseña histórica: Jesús Casas, una carrera en continuo ascenso | Cádiz CF - Web Oficial. Reseña histórica: Jesús Casas, una carrera en continuo ascenso | Cádiz CF - Web Oficial. 18 January 2023. 4 November 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221104120756/https://www.cadizcf.com/noticia/resena-historica-jesus-casas-una-carrera-en-continuo-ascenso. live.
  2. Web site: Jesús Casas deja de ser entrenador del Rota. Diario de. Cádiz. 20 January 2010. Diario de Cádiz. 18 January 2023. 7 September 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230907155418/https://www.diariodecadiz.es/deportes/Jesus-Casas-deja-entrenador-Rota_0_334466767.html. live.
  3. Web site: Jesús Casas se convierte en nuevo entrenador del Deportes Romero. Diario de. Cádiz. 30 May 2010. Diario de Cádiz. 18 January 2023. 7 September 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230907155419/https://www.diariodecadiz.es/deportes/Jesus-Casas-entrenador-Deportes-Romero_0_373462868.html. live.
  4. Web site: Jesús Casas: The full story of Iraq's 7-month managerial search . socceriraq.net . 29 October 2022 . 9 December 2022 . 21 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230321230240/https://socceriraq.net/2022/10/29/jesus-casas-the-full-story-of-iraqs-7-month-managerial-search/ . live .
  5. Web site: Spanish coach Jesus Casas to coach Iraqi national team. 3 November 2022. iraqinews.com. 8 November 2022. 3 November 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221103210117/https://www.iraqinews.com/iraq/spanish-coach-jesus-casas-to-coach-iraqi-national-team/. live.
  6. Web site: Jesus Casas takes charge of Iraq. the-AFC. 8 November 2022. 17 January 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230117110746/https://www.the-afc.com/en/national/afc_asian_cup/news/jesus_casas_appointed_as_new_iraq_coach_1.html. live.
  7. News: Manaf Younis nets winner to help Iraq edge out Oman 3-2 in Gulf Cup final. Gulf Newsdate=19 January 2023. 20 January 2023. 19 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230219220659/https://gulfnews.com/sport/football/manaf-younis-nets-winner-to-help-iraq-edge-out-oman-3-2-in-gulf-cup-final-1.1674121168894. live.
  8. News: Journalists banned after confronting Iraq manager Jesús Casas . Espn.co.uk. Joey Lynch. 30 January 2024. 31 January 2024.