His international journey began in 1973 with
Iraq national under-20 football team, which consisted of great players from the national team participating in the
Palestine Cup of Nations which was held in
Libya, and he played his debut match against
United Arab Emirates where on which time the Iraqi team won 3–1. He was then invited to join the national team and he played his international debut match against
Tunisia in
Al-Shaab Stadium and the match concluded with a 0–0 draw. After his debut he played 54 other matches. Some of them were the
1974 Asian Games which were held in
Tehran,
Pestabola Merdeka in 1977 and 1978,
5th Arabian Gulf Cup in Baghdad in 1979 and
Moscow Olympics in 1980. Alaa was part of the
1977 World Men's Military Cup alongside the likes of captain
Douglas Aziz and
Ali Kadhim. The midfielder was one of the star players at Basra based club that included
Rahim Karim,
Jalil Hanoon and the Ahmed brothers
Hadi and
Abdul-Razzaq. After making his debut, he became a regular in the Iraqi national team alongside his Al-Minaa team-mate Hadi Ahmad, helping Iraq to win the
5th Arabian Gulf Cup in
Baghdad and the
1979 World Men's Military Cup. He was an important part of the
Al-Minaa side that won its first Iraqi league title in
1977–78 season. In 1980, he represented Iraq in its first Olympic appearance in
Moscow playing in all 4 games against
Costa Rica,
Finland and
Yugoslavia and in the 2nd round, where they lost 4–0 to evidential finalists
East Germany. ==The Coaches==