Wihdat, Faisali play for wins

AMMAN — Wihdat and Faisali play their final Round 1 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup matches on Tuesday.

Wihdat need a win over Lebanon’s Ahed hoping that Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr lose their match in order to secure qualification. They are now third in Group A and nearly out of the competition after a crushing 6-2 defeat by Bahrain’s Hidd. On the other hand, two-time AFC Cup champ Faisali play Iraq’s Naft Al Wasat having already booked one of two qualifying slots from Group B after a 4-2 win over Turkmenistan’s Istiklol Dushanbe. 

Jordanian Professional League champ Wihdat started off the competition with unstable performances. Wihdat retained the league title with difficulty and were closely chased by Faisali and Ahli. Wihdat’s Ziyad Shilbayeh had stressed the team “needs to work as one to win locally and regionally”.

A two-time AFC Cup winner, Faisali aim to return to the forefront of competitions this year while Wihdat hope the AFC will make up for elimination from the Asian Champions League — the premier Asian competition — where they lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia’s Ittihad Jeddah.  Wihdat have taken part in the past eight AFC editions but have not won an Asian title. Wihdat have been league champs for the past three seasons. This year, they conceded the season opening 33rd Super Cup to rivals Faisali while Ahli won the Jordan Cup.

The 14th AFC Cup has 40 clubs from across the continent competing in eight groups with the top two from each group going on to the Round of 16 when Round 1 ending on May 24. The second tier Asian club competition has been won three times by Jordanian teams: Faisali won titles in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun won in 2007.

Jordanian clubs hope to win back the title this season after record winning Kuwaiti teams were suspended by FIFA. Prize money includes $1 million for the champ, $500,000 for the runner-up, $40,000 for semifinalists, $25,000 for quarter-finalists and $15,0000 for teams reaching the Round of 16.

In 2015, Jordanian teams were absent from advanced stages of Asian competitions as Wihdat and Jazira were knocked out of the AFC Cup Round of 16. While it was the first time for Jazira, who finished runner-up in the Jordan League and participated in the event after two-time AFC Cup champs and Faisali declined, Wihdat were hoping to advance and win the AFC Cup for the first time after taking part eight times.  

In 2014, Jordan Cup champs That Ras exited the Round of 16 in their inaugural AFC participation while former AFC Cup champs Shabab Urdun exited in Round 1.