Kurdish footballer named in 'Team of Tournament' at 2019 EURO U21 Championship

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A young Kurdish footballer has been named in the 2019 UEFA Under-21 European Championship’s Team of the Tournament after his impressive performances in the competition for Germany helped the team reach the final.

Mahmoud Dahoud, 23, represented the German national team at this summer’s Under-21 European Championship in Italy.

The Kurdish footballer started all three of Germany’s group matches and scored a goal in the 6-1 victory over Serbia. Dahoud also started in the German’s 4-2 semi-final win over Romania and the 2-1 loss to Spain in the final on Sunday.

UEFA announced the Team of the Tournament on Tuesday, with Dahoud among six Germans on the list.

The Kurdish athlete, who plays in midfield, began his international career with the German Under-18 team in 2014 and has since gone on to play at the Under-19 and Under-21 level.  

Dahoud, born in Amuda, Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), was listed among 39 other young footballers for the prestigious “Golden Boy” award in 2016.

The footballer’s parents fled the Assad regime in 1996, shortly after he was born, seeking refuge in Germany.

Dahoud began his club career at Borussia Mӧnchengladbach’s youth academy in 2010 at the age of 14. The youngster remained in the club’s academy before making his first-team debut in 2014 when he signed his first professional contract. The 23-year-old played 61 games for Mӧnchengladbach, scoring seven goals.

After a string of impressive performances, the Kurdish footballer began to attract interest from other clubs in Germany as well as English giants Liverpool.

In July 2017, Dahoud signed for Borussia Dortmund. He has made 37 appearances for the club since. He scored his debut goal for the club in the 2018/19 season on Aug. 26, 2018, in a 4-1 win against RB Leipzig.