raq's Radhi Shenaishil became the third coaching casualty of Asian World Cup qualifying Group B when he was sacked late on Monday.
The 50-year-old was shown the
door after defeat to Saudi Arabia in Jeddah at the end of last month all
but ruled the country out of contention for a place in Russia next
year.
"We are not happy with the
results and the coaching team is to be sacked and replaced by foreign
staff," read a statement on the Iraq FA Facebook page
(www.facebook.com/iraqfa).
"The FA will work with the Iraqi government and Iraqi Olympic Committee to provide funds for a replacement."
Shenaishil's departure follows
that of United Arab Emirates coach Mahdi Ali, who quit after a 2-0 loss
to Australia in Sydney in the same round of matches effectively ended
his team's dreams of qualifying for Russia.
Thailand's Kiatisuk Senamuang
also stepped down in the wake of the 4-0 thrashing by Japan that ended
slim Thai hopes of reaching the finals for the first time.
Shenaishil led Iraq to the
semifinals of the 2015 Asian Cup in a previous stint in charge and,
after a spell at Baghdad club Al-Shorta, returned to mastermind the bid
to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time since 1986.
Hampered by having to play their
"home" matches in neutral venues for security reasons, the Iraqis were
always going to struggle to clinch a ticket to Russia after losing their
first three qualifiers of the third round.
The 1-0 loss to the Saudis on
March 28 left the 2007 Asian champions fifth in Group B with four points
from seven matches, nine points behind third-placed Australia and 12 in
arrears to leaders Saudi Arabia and Japan.
The top two teams qualify
directly for Russia, while third place offers a further berth via a
playoff against the similarly placed team in Group A and an
intercontinental tie against a team from the Central and North America
Confederation.
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