Wihdat, Faisali aim to stay in Asian competitions

AMMAN — Faisali play an away match against Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshion on Monday in the fifth stage of Group B Asian Football Confederation (AFC)Champions League matches.

Faisali need to win to stay in the competition after a lackluster start which saw them lose to UAE’s Sharjah and to Nasaf Qarshi 1-0 before a crushing 6-0 defeat to Qatar’s Sadd ended up in yet another change in coaching staff.

Ahead of the last match, coach Ahmad Hayel took on the task as they hosted Qatar’s Sadd beating them 2-0 to stay in contention, with the top team from each group advancing to Round 2 alongside the top 3 second placed teams.

Faisali are now fourth in the group and are trying hard to stabilise the team’s performance and lineup after inconsistent coaching staff, injuries and unwarranted mistakes in defence and offence lead to their worst results in the Asian competition.

On the other hand, Wihdat who also had to amend breaches in lineup and strategy before they resume AFC Cup matches on Tuesday when they play Aleppo’s Ittihad in the Saudi city of Ta’ef in the second tier Asian competition.

Wihdat last lost to Iraq’s Kahraba’a 3-1 in Basra dropped in Group B standings after leading in the initial three rounds when they beat Kahraba’a 3-1 after losing to Kuwait SC 2-1, and beating Aleppo’s Ittihad 2-0 in the first leg.

They will need to top the group to secure their spot and advance , as only the best runner-up among 3 West Asia groups will advance as well.