Basil Gorgis

Basil Gorgis

Personal information
Full name	Basil Gorgis Hanna
Date of birth	(1961-09-06) September 6, 1961
Place of birth	Ankawa, Iraq
Height
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1977-1979	Al Saadoon
1979-1982	Al-Amana
1982-1990	Al Shabab
1990-1991	Al Talaba
International career
1981-1989	Iraq	55	(4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Basil Gewargis Hanna or Basil Korkis (Arabic: باسل كوركيس ‎‎) (born January 8, 1961 in Iraq) is a former Iraqi-Assyrian international football player. Despite having a short career, he is considered to be one of the best players of all time in Iraq, being known for his tenacity and attacking threat.

As a player, Basil took the national team to uncharted territory, where he was part of the Iraqi "golden team" of the 1980s that included Hussein Saeed and Ahmad Radhi.

Basil is married to his wife of 25 years Nawal Hanna and they together have three daughters, Reta, Nadiya, and Mariam Hanna.

Club career

Like all up and coming Iraqi players, "It all started in the streets" as Basil was once quoted. As a teenager, he played with the youth league team Homentmen, a youth club belonging to Nadi Al-Armeni (Armenian Club). At the age of 16, he moved on to the club of Tammuz, a Junior team belonging to Nadi Al-Athori, where he caught the eye of the then first division Al-Amana coach Mustufa Auda. Throughout his youth, Basil points to Zia Isaac as the one who coached him into the player he would become.[1] Basil remained in the Iraq Super League for all his career, where he went on to play for Al Shabab and Al Talaba.

He emigrated to Canada, where he played as an amateur with Nineveh Star from 1992. In 1995, he joined semi-professional club Scarborough Astros of the Canadian National Soccer League, helping them to the Ontario Cup Final losing on penalties to St.Catharines Roma Wolves.

External links

• Basil Gorgis at National-Football-Teams.com
• Interview with Basil Gorgis