Jordan assesses national team preparedness

AMMAN — The men’s national football team will need to start finalising its line-up and amend any gaps as the two-month countdown starts towards qualifiers doubling as part of the qualification for the 2018 World Cup and the 2019 Asian Cup.

The team just returned home after playing two friendlies in the past week, losing 2-1 to Saudi Arabia and 1-0 to Syria. 

The results of the two friendlies were vital in deciding the team’s position among Asian teams ahead of the upcoming draw in which 40 teams will be divided into eight tiers with the top eight heading the groups. Had Jordan scored two wins, it would have secured a top eight position and avoided playing heavyweight Asian teams in the first phase of the qualifiers.

After elimination from the Asian Cup earlier this year, interim head coach Ahmad Abdul Qader realises that he needs to put the competitive edge back on track. “We are fully aware of the team’s mistakes in the Syria match. The team’s inconsistency needs to be tackled,” noted the coach who previously led the U-19 team to Jordan’s best achievement of fourth place and qualification to the 2007 U-19 World Cup.

Abdul Qader added that the match against Saudi Arabia was far better despite the result. “We pinpointed a lot of tactical issues and we will proceed accordingly,” he underlined. 

Team star Hasan Abdul Fattah acknowledged the efforts of his teammates saying: “I’m convinced of our abilities despite the two defeats. We will not let our fans down.”

His sentiments were echoed by Hamza Dardour, who has been Jordan’s face saving scorer in recent matches. “Jordanian football will be back in competitive form. I’m fully confident of that.”

The Kingdom dropped four spots to 101st in the lastest FIFA World Rankings following elimination from the first round of the 2015 Asian Football Confederation Cup as Jordan failed to repeat its quarter-final qualification from 2004 and 2011.