Ali Al-Hamadi has rarely been out of the headlines since his arrival at the Cherry Red Records Stadium, but his message is clear as he makes his return this weekend: “I’m just focused on Wimbledon”.
Fresh off the back of scoring his first international goal for Iraq before going on to lift the King’s Cup, our number 10 has had his say on his start to the season, banishing his penalty demons and the transfer speculation that hasn’t fazed him.
WATCH OUR STRIKER AND THE LADS IN ACTION AGAINST CREWE ALEXANDRA THIS WEEKEND BY SNAPPING UP A TICKET FROM OUR ONLINE TICKET SHOP.
Ali also unpicks his on-field relationship with James Tilley and provides an insight into the importance of our squad understanding exactly what Wimbledon fans want to see from their team.
Watch the full, in-depth interview below.
INTERNATIONAL GLORY
It’s been a special week for me and my family. Getting my first international goal and then ending it with a trophy was unreal. I’m hungry for more.
It’s a trophy at the end of the day. Winning is winning. That’s two trophies now that I’ve won in my career, it’s a feeling that you want more and more of. I think to have that in the bank and to have that experience helps me to push myself and push the people around me.
When you go away with the national team it’s a different kind of pressure. It’s literally just about winning. Every single game there’s a lot of pressure on it. The celebrations after were just mad. We’re now looking ahead to the Asia Cup.
DEFEATING THE PENALTY PRESSURES
I’ve missed two this season but the expectations because of how I performed last season are that the ball is going to hit the back of the net. It’s the expectation I want as a striker. Anyone who knows me knows that I feel like I’m built differently. Nothing really fazes me. If I had another pen I would’ve taken it in the same game.
I just put the ball down and tried not to make it a big thing. You have to trust what you’ve been working on. I got back to work on the techniques and stuff. I’m always prepared to miss a penalty because the best penalty takers miss them, it’s not a big deal.
The art of being a striker is not making things a big deal because the more you make them a big deal, that’s when things start to snowball. It was a pressurized situation, don’t get me wrong but 100 times out of 100 I still take the penalty and I would never shy away from doing that. It was nice to score.
Everyone dreams of growing up and scoring for their country. Even when I was celebrating I knew my family were watching back home on the TV. I wish I could bottle up that feeling and experience that again.
BLOCKING OUT THE NOISE
I’m an honest person. There’s been talk about a transfer and stuff like that. It’s weird because I feel like people have made more of a big deal about things than I have. If you speak to the Gaffer or anyone I have been completely relaxed about the situation. I’m just focused on Wimbledon.
I’ve not had the start to the season that I’ve wanted, there’s no shying away from that but at the same time I’m still completely relaxed. I know I’m going to score goals. I feel like I’ve been performing well on the pitch. Other people have been chipping in, Tilley has had an unreal start to the season.
To me it’s all about winning, if someone else on the team is performing and getting those goals and we’re winning games, I don’t really care. I’ve been through a lot in my life, missing chances doesn’t really affect me. I’m hungry to score goals, I’ve got targets and I want to be a lot better than last season.
I’m completely relaxed about the situation, as long as I keep putting myself in positions, they’ll come. Getting my first goal for Iraq will help and now it’s on to the weekend. I’m taking each game as it comes. Being a striker is quite hard because it’s a completely different mindset to other positions. You’re judged solely on goals.
LINKING UP WITH TILLEY
He’s been brilliant. I’ve been in his position, I know the head space that he’s in because of last season. You want to play every game and you feel like you’re going to score. Playing together more often now I feel like we’re picking up each other’s movements, I know whenever he gets the ball to make certain runs, to come short or spin in behind.
The other boys have been doing their bit to get the results to, hopefully it’ll continue. I know when I wasn’t here we lost a game but it’s a long season and I don’t think one loss can overshadow the work we’ve been doing so far.
WORK HARD, PLAY HARD
At the end of the day we play for Wimbledon and I think the fans here want a team that’s going to run, press, be in your face, be physical – that’s what the Club has been built on. That’s the Wimbledon spirit. The Gaffer, the coaching staff and everyone behind the scenes have done an incredible job to put a team together that can show that on the pitch.
In League Two sometimes it’s not pretty, sometimes you have to grind out games and results, you go away to some terrible pitches in terrible conditions, it’s not always plain sailing. I feel like the boys have been unreal in everything we’ve been doing. Not just on the pitch, off the pitch in training, the way we’ve been operating – we’ll be up there this season. I want to help the Club go back up, let’s try and have a special season.
