Wihdat, Jazira play Stage II AFC Cup matches

AMMAN — Wihdat play Oman’s Nahda in an away match while Jazira host Iraq’s Shurta in Amman in Stage II of the 2015 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup on Tuesday.

Wihdat top the group after beating Lebanon’s Salam Zgharta 5-1 in their opening Group A match. Nahda are second in the group after they beat Syria’s Wihda 2-1.

Jordan Professional League champ Wihdat have previously beaten three-time Oman champ in the 2010 AFC Cup 2-0 and 3-1 and hope to come away with a win that would secure their lead in the group before facing Wihda on March 17.

Wihdat hope to advance in the AFC Cup this season after they exited the AFC Champions League, losing 1-0 to Asian Champions League and AFC Cup titleholders Kuwait’s Qadissieh. Locally, they still have a slim lead in the League after they beat Hussein 3-0 in their last match after a slump that saw them lose 1-0 to Ahli and draw 0-0 with bottom-placed Ittihad Ramtha.

“Our last win over Hussein was important for team morale. We are taking things one match at a time and hope to come away with three points from Oman,” Abu Zameh was quoted as saying in the local media.

Wihdat have never won the AFC Cup in the past seven times they competed while it is the first time for Jazira who took part after two-time AFC Cup champ and League runner-up Faisali declined to take part this year.

In Group B, Jazira host Iraq’s Shurta hoping to make up for their opening 1-1 draw with Palestine’s Wadi Nes. Shurta and Bahrain’s Hidd lead the group after their 2-2 draw.

Jazira coach Issa Turk said home matches are important and a chance to secure qualification to the second round, adding: “Winning the match is vital depite the injuries before heading to Bahrain in Stage III.”

Turk acknowledged that the team allowed the Palestinian team’s equaliser on tactical errors and that there were “gaps and mistakes which the team was trying to rectify before playing AFC and local League matches”.

Turk’s line-up is plagued by injuries but two U-23 players joined the team from their camp in the UAE, in an important boost as the team’s chances have been complicated after they played their first Asian competition without their coaching staff present after Israeli border authorities barred four delegation members from entering the Palestinian territories. 

The AFC Cup will have 32 clubs from across the continent competing in eight groups with the top two from each group going on to the Round of 16.

Last season, first-time AFC Cup competitors and Jordan Cup champ That Ras exited the Round of 16 while former AFC Cup champ Shabab Urdun exited in Round 1. They were also eliminated by Hidd in their preliminary round of the AFC Champions League.

The second-tier Asian club competition was won by Syria’s Jeish in its inaugural edition in 2004. Jordan’s Faisali won in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun won in 2007.