- Title: Soccer-crazed youth in Iraq etch faces of football stars into hair
- Date: 26th August 2019
- Summary: CHILD MAJEED IN ROTATING CHAIR AND LOOKING AT HIS HAIR IN MIRROR (SOUNDBITE) (Kurdish) BARBER, MARWAN HADI, SAYING: "I hope that one day I could sign a contract with one of the European clubs to be a barber for the players. I wish I could get a visa to Spain so that I can attend a game between clubs and present my talent to fans there." RONALDO'S FACE ON CUSTOMER MOHAMMED'S HEAD VARIOUS OF MOHAMMED WATCHING SOCCER GAME WITH YOUTH AT CAFE (SOUNDBITE) (Kurdish) CUSTOMER, BALAND MOHAMMED, SAYING: "Football is a hobby of mine, I love watching Real Madrid matches in particular, and I love Ronaldo very much. I wish to meet him one day, and this is why I came to this salon. I asked the barber to draw him on my head because I'm a fan. Yes the process takes at least two hours all the while I am sitting on a chair, but it does not matter because my wish came true." VARIOUS OF CHILDREN INCLUDING BALIN MAJEED PLAYING FOOTBALL AT LOCAL PLAYGROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Kurdish) CUSTOMER, BALIN MAJEED, SAYING: "As soon as I heard there was a barber drawing pictures of players on heads, I immediately had to go to him and asked him to do (Gareth Bale) as you see. This has made me very happy as I am the first one to have a picture of this player in my hair, with such creativity and style." VARIOUS OF CHILDREN PLAYING SOCCER AT LOCAL PLAYGROUND
- Embargoed: 9th September 2019 13:54
- Keywords: Iraqi barber football fans soccer fans stars portraits
- Location: HALABJA, IRAQ
- City: HALABJA, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA007ATUVCR9
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: With just a pair of scissors and hair clippers, barber Marwan Hadi gives daring youth in the Kurdish town of Halabja haircuts where he etches the faces of famous soccer players in their hair.
Hadi, 28, started these drawings around four months ago and said youth from across the city have since converged onto his small shop to get their hair styled by him.
Many children and young adults ask for Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo or Real Madrid's Gareth Bale, Hadi said.
The barber, who graduated from the institute of fine arts, put his artistic skill to the test in his portraits as he carefully works on every detail in the picture.
But the stylish haircuts can be pricey and time-consuming, with Hadi charging up to $50 (59,670 Iraqi dinars) for a drawing and often taking up to two hours to complete it.
Hadi much like his customers hopes he could one day watch a live match between two Spanish clubs and be able to share his talent with European fans.
(Saman Mahmood, Maher Nezeh, Mohammed Katfan) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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