Marko Farji #21

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In October 2025, Farji was asked what he had done during the international break, his reply was slightly flippant: “Ate me fat … slept to death." It was a display of frustration from the Grimstad-born winger, whose opportunities with Iraq had been few and far between. But Farji, or Faraj as he is known in Arabic, remained patient and, in the end, assisted Iraq's winner in the final World Cup playoff just 68 seconds after coming on. "It’s crazy. It's a wonderful feeling," he told Norway's TV2. “It's a dream. It's absolutely sick, but it feels weird to meet Norway [in Group I], the place where I grew up and come from. I'm excited," added the former Strømsgodset player, now with Venezia, who will play in Serie A next season. Farji was something of a child prodigy, who at 11, was offered a week-long trial at Manchester City, and two years later, trained with Ajax at a camp. Behind him was an ambitious father, a structural engineer originally from the city of Sulaymaniyah who, from early on, saw the true potential of his son.

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