Jordan national football team returns from UAE camp

AMMAN — The national football team returned home in the weekend concluding a training camp in the UAE in preparation for qualifiers for the 2019 Asian Cup.

During the camp, Jordan played 121st ranked Georgia, beating them 1-0 in the first match under new head coach Emirati Abdullah Misfer.

As Jordan went down to 107th in the last FIFA Rankings, the draw for the final round of qualifiers for the 2019 Asian Cup put Jordan in Group C with Afghanistan, Vietnam and Cambodia. Misfer said all teams in the group had a valid chance.

“We will not take anything for granted. We seek to top the group to secure qualification and move to the continent’s finals.” However, he added, “winning comes through effort and performance, not expectations”.

This week, players will head back to clubs for the restart of the Jordan Professional Football League and the Jordan Cup, as Wihdat prepare to play the Asian Champions League preliminary round match on January 31 against India’s Bengaluru FC.

In the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup, Ahli were drawn to play in Group C alongside Iraq’s Zawra, Syria’s Jeish and a qualifier from Oman or Palestine starting February 20.