Kingdom's U-14 girls seek to retain W. Asian football title

AMMAN — Jordan's U-14 girls football team plays Qatar on Friday in its first match at the second U-14 West Asian Championship, which kicks off in Amman Thursday.

The event will see Palestine play the UAE and Bahrain play Qatar on the opening day, as Jordan seeks to start off on a strong note and play for the title.

Jordan won the inaugural event in Doha last year with an unbeaten streak, beating Palestine 3-1 in the final after overcoming Bahrain and Qatar 5-0, and the UAE 10-0.

Jordan's coach Manar Freij told the Jordan Football Association website that the host team had prepared well. 

"We expect a fair, tough competition as all teams have improved. The event is a great chance for players who will eventually represent Jordan in the U-17 Women's World Cup in 2016," Freij noted.

Meanwhile, the senior women's team is hoping that friendlies against stronger Asian sides be arranged soon as the squad prepares for the Asian Football Confederation Women's 2014 Asian Cup, which will be held in Vietnam May 14-25.

Jordan so far held two training camps, one in Aqaba and the other in Japan, but the team's agenda seems to have suffered unexpected snags after it was confirmed that not all teams would be competing in the upcoming fifth West Asian Championship in Amman April 15-25.

Qatar confirmed participation this week, joining Jordan, Palestine and Bahrain. Iran as well as two-time champs and titleholders UAE have announced they would not be competing, while Lebanon requested to waive some participation fees. 

The national team is now readying to host Bayern Munich in two matches on April 3 and 5 before holding a final training camp in Malaysia ahead of the finals, where Jordan will be the first Arab team competing.

On the other hand, Jordan's Committee for the 2016 U-17 Women's World Cup is now gearing up to prepare four stadiums and 16 practice fields, as the Kingdom prepares to host a  visiting FIFA committee in May.