Hussein Ali, a player of Pogoń Szczecin, has explained why he changed his national team affiliation. Here's what he said. Hussein Ali played for Sweden's junior and youth teams, but as a senior, he represents Iraq. The right-back of Pogoń Szczecin explained to Weszlo.com why he changed his national team affiliation. Hussein Ali was born in Malmö, Sweden, and regularly played for Sweden's junior and youth teams - he played 24 games in total. As a senior, however, he represents Iraq - he has already played 26 games for the team and is an important player. Currently, he is preparing with the team for the upcoming World Cup: in the group stage, Iraq will face Norway, France, and Senegal. Hussein Ali explained to Weszlo.com why he changed his national team affiliation. Jesus Casas is the coach who was an assistant coach for Spain for four years and took over Iraq in 2022, leading the team until last year. I had a long conversation with him. Casas had a clear plan for the Iraqi team. He wanted to change some things, develop the team. I thought: „Maybe this is a good idea and the right moment to change the team? The coach knows what he wants, I would have a chance to play regularly and participate in big tournaments”. I also had in mind that my father is an Iraqi who loves the country and football. But when I talked to my father before making the decision, he didn't put any pressure on me. He just said: „This must be your autonomous decision” - said Ali. I didn't have thoughts like: „I don't have chances in Sweden, so I need to change something”. I wasn't guided by something like that. It was more like: „The Iraqi team is building something interesting, and I can be a part of it”. We managed to qualify for the World Cup, which only strengthened my conviction that I made the right choice - added the 24-year-old. The right-back joined the ranks of „Portowców” in mid-September last year. In Pogoń's colors, he has played 16 games (spending 515 minutes on the pitch), and on his account, he has two goals.