Ipswich striker Ali Al-Hamadi is planning to make history by going from Plough Lane to the Premier League.
The Ipswich new boy scored his first goal in Wednesday’s 4-0 win at Millwall and now aims to be the first Iraq international in the top flight.
Al-Hamadi moved from AFC Wimbledon a fortnight ago and has quickly settled into life at his new club.
“I don’t think there’s ever been an Iraqi that played in the Premier League, so that’s a dream,” he said.
Al-Hamadi came off the bench at The Den and captain Sam Morsy gave him the ball for their last-minute penalty, which the Liverpool-raised striker scored to get off the mark.
The 21-year-old earned his move, for an undisclosed fee, by scoring 17 goals for Wimbledon in the first half of the season and victory over the Lions maintained Ipswich’s chances of automatic promotion.
After a run of just one win in nine games saw them overhauled by Leeds and Southampton, the Tractor Boys are fourth, three points off the second-placed Whites.
Al-Hamadi said he chose Ipswich for his move because it is a club on the up, with a manager like Kieran McKenna who can fulfil his dream of playing in the Premier League.
Burnley centre-back Ameen Al-Dakhil recently became the first Iraq-born player to score in the Premier League, but he has chosen to play international football for his adopted homeland of Belgium.
Al-Hamadi, who moved to Liverpool with his family as a one-year-old to escape the Iraq War in 2003, has 12 caps and three goals for his country, and is now hoping Ipswich can help him fulfil a boyhood dream.
“It’s a club with amazing stability right now, with everything going in the right direction,” he told BBC Radio Suffolk. “I’d love to be in the Premier League with Ipswich, it’s always been an ambition of mine as a player.
“I don’t want to think too much about these things. What’s got me here so far is being determined and focussed, and working hard, and that’s what I’ll keep doing.”
Ipswich was ‘the perfect fit’
Al-Hamadi says that the lure of working with McKenna was a draw when he decided to move on from Wimbledon, saying: “For me it had to be the right place and Ipswich is an amazing club right now, on an upwards trajectory with an amazing manager who’s not just here to win games but to improve players.
“For me, being a young player, that’s what really attracted me to come and play for Ipswich, it’s the perfect fit.
“I love football, I find it hard to switch off sometimes to be honest, and the boss is quite similar in personality. He’s so detailed, so intense in the way he works. It keeps you working, keeps you on your toes and as a young player these years are crucial to keep up on my game.”
His first three games for Town have been as a substitute and says it was special moment when Morsy persuaded regular penalty taker Conor Chaplin to hand the ball to him in injury-time at The Den.
“A penalty taker is a penalty taker, but the skip’s helped me out and said ‘give it to him, let him get his first goal’ so you have to make sure you score. Chappers is a good guy and was buzzing for me after it.
“That’s exactly how you dream about getting your first goal, in front of a packed away end. I’m buzzing.”
