Charbel Shamoon has been recognised for his outstanding breakout season with Western United, earning a milestone selection to the Iraq senior national team.
This is the 21-year-old’s maiden call-up at senior level having previously been a regular for the Iraq Under 20’s and also represented Australia with the Under 23’s in November.
Shamoon will join the Iraq squad for a pair of crucial FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Kuwait and Palestine.
Shamoon has been one of a number of young stars to have starred in the Isuzu UTE A-League Men so far this season as he becomes the first-ever Western United Academy graduate to receive a senior national team selection.
The call-up comes on the back of a stunning Isuzu UTE A-League Men campaign for the full-back, his first as a contracted senior player.
Shamoon has made 13 appearances this season, with 12 of those being starts, while featuring in some of United’s biggest wins across the campaign against Sydney FC, Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix.
Western United General Manager of Football Mal Impiombato heaped praise on Shamoon and on the Western United program that has supported his development.
“This is a monumental achievement for Charbel and everyone at Western United is incredibly proud of him reaching this milestone,” he said.
“Charbel has shown a fantastic appetite to develop and take on the values of our football club and he is richly deserving of this honour.
“This is also a significant testament to the work of all of our staff through the Academy program and in the first team and is also a well-earned piece of recognition for everyone that has contributed to Charbel’s development.
“We look forward to watching Charbel on the world stage and wish him and the Iraq national team the very best of luck in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.”
Shamoon will be hoping to contribute to a successful set of matches to strengthen Iraq’s chances of automatic qualification for next year’s FIFA World Cup.
Iraq currently sits in second place in Group B, with Kuwait and Palestine occupying the bottom two positions in the group.
