Habib Jafar Football player

Habib Jafar (Arabic: حبيب حعفر‎), born in 1966, is a former Iraqi footballer. He was featured on the national team many times and is remembered for competing in various Gulf Cup competitions. In the 1988 Gulf Cup he was voted as the best player of the competition. He became a regular of the national team at a young age and was almost even called up for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, but was thought to be to unexperienced by then-coach, Evaristo de Macedo.He was a key player in the Iraqi national team during the late 80s and through the 90s. Habib first appeared in the national team in 1988, playing in the Arab Championship, Olympics in Seoul and the Gulf Cup, where he was voted as player of the tournament. Was an important part of a talented Iraqi side that nearly qualified for the World Cup in 1994. He spent his time with clubs in Iraq, and spent a 4-year spell in Qatar with Al-Rayyan, Al-Ittihad (now known as "Al-Gharaffa"), and Al-Wakra, and in the latest part of his career, with Dhofar of Oman.Retired from the international scene after being omitted from the Asian Cup squad in Lebanon in 2000, by Milan Zivadinovic, but was surprisingly brought back by Adnan Hamad after the sacking of Milan in February 2001. Habib was placed by the German based Federation of Football History & Statistics as Iraq's 3rd best player of the century.