About Nashat Akram Nashat Akram Abid Ali (Arabic: نشأت اكرم‎, born September 12, 1984 in Baghdad, Iraq) is an Iraqi professional football player who is currently playing for FC Twente in the Netherlands and the Iraq national football team. He usually plays as a midfielder. Akram is one of Iraq's promising young prospects, and has been linked with Manchester City and Sunderland. In 2009, the International Football Awards chose Nashat Akram as the best Asian footballer of the year.