Olympic team plays Iran in friendly

AMMAN — The men’s Olympic team will host Iran in two matches this week as part of a rigorous agenda aimed at getting the squad ready for the 2015 Asian Games qualifiers as well as the 2016 Olympic qualifiers.

Jordan will play Iran on Monday in the first of two matches before it plays Bahrain on August 9 and hosts the Uzbek team on August 30.

Coach Jamal Abu Abed again expressed his dissatisfaction with the preliminary phase of preparations as his efforts to regroup the line-up have so far been hampered with players not released either by their teams in the league as well as being on national team duty. Even now, the line-up has five players missing as they are with Wihdat’s camp in Turkey.

Jordan lately tied Kuwait 1-1 in two matches before holding Qatar 0-0. The coach said he was satisfied with the team’s performance in latest matches despite the agenda. “We are exerting all efforts and will aim to amend any gaps in upcoming friendlies. We hope to be able to have a final camp in east Asia before heading to South Korea for the Asian Games,” Abu Abed was quoted as saying by the local media.

Jordan lately settled for second place after losing 1-0 to Palestine in the final of the Palestine International Championship. Earlier this year, the team hosted the England C squad in a historic match, losing 1-0.