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Jordan take on Kyrgyzstan

By Aline Bannayan - Nov 16,2015 - Last updated at Nov 16,2015

AMMAN  — Jordan play Kyrgyzstan in its return leg Group B qualifier for the 2018 World Cup doubling, as part of the qualification for 2019 Asian Cup.

Jordan will be seeking to come home with an away win that would maintain its lead atop the group after it scored two consecutive wins and beat Asian champs Australia 2-0 and Tajikistan 3-0 in the last two qualifiers.

In the first leg, Jordan was held to a disappointing 0-0 draw with Kyrgyzstan. It also beat Tajikistan 3-1, Bangladesh 4-0. Forty teams are playing home and away in a round-robin format in the current second qualifying round which runs until March 2016 

Before leaving to Bishkek, Jordan beat Malta 2-0 in a friendly as part of its final training camp in Turkey.

“We do not take anything for granted. Every match is important and the team needs to focus on winning to reach the Asian Championship and keep World Cup qualifying chances alive,” Jordan Football Association Deputy Chairman Salah Sabra told the press. 

Jordan’s head coach Paul Put added: “We already have four wins and one draw. We need to maintain our lead and secure qualification to the next round.” 

Australia beat Kyrgyzstan 3-0 last week and is now second in the group. It earlier beat Tajikistan 3-0, Bangladesh 5-0 and Kyrgyzstan 2-1. Tajikistan beat Bangladesh 5-0 to score its first win. Bangladesh is last after it held Tajikistan 1-1 and lost to Kyrgyzstan 3-1.

After the two wins and a 3-0 defeat of Iraq in a friendly, Jordan went up 17 spots to 82nd in the latest FIFA World Rankings — its biggest leap in a year.

The Kingdom had the most memorable World Cup qualifying journey in 2013 when it lost a possible chance to play at the World Cup for the first time and advanced to play then World’s 6th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying tie for a place in the 2014 World Cup. 

It lost the home game 5-0 and held the former World Cup champs 0-0 in the away match. Jordan had never reached that far in World Cup qualifying since taking part in the qualifiers as of 1985. Round 3 had been the furthest Jordan reached in the past seven times in the qualifiers since 1986.

In the Asian Cup, Jordan reached the Championship three times since first taking part in qualifiers in 1972. The pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup, when it lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA ranking of 37th in August 2004. In 2011, Jordan again reached the quarter-finals.

 

Earlier in 2015, Jordan’s line-up was led by Briton Ray Wilkins under whom the team failed to advance past the first round of the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup. Ahmad Abdul Qader took over in the transitional phase under whom the team played the first qualifier. Belgian Put took over since July.

 

  Group B standings

Team

P

W

D

L

GF

GA

Pts

Jordan

5

4

1

0

12

1

13

Australia

5

4

0

1

13

3

12

Kyrgyzstan

6

2

2

2

8

8

8

Tajikistan

6

1

2

3

9

12

5

Bangladesh

6

0

1

5

2

20

1

 

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