Wihdat, Jazira inch towards AFC Cup Round 2

AMMAN — Wihdat and Jazira have boosted their qualifying chances after scoring impressive wins in Stage 5 of the 2015 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup.

Wihdat repeated their win and eliminated hosts Salam Zgharta in Tripoli 3-0 after an earlier 5-1 win over their Lebanese hosts in the home game.

Their upcoming match against Oman’s Nahda will be decisive as they now top Group A after Syria’s Wihda and Oman’s Nahda were held 0-0. Wihdat, who earlier this week secured the Jordan Professional League for the 14th time, had earlier held Syria’s Wihda 1-1 after losing 1-0 in Leg 1. They also beat Nahda 3-0.

On the other hand, Jazira remained atop Group B after they scored their second win of the competition over Palestine’s Wadi Ness 2-0 as Iraq’s Shurta and Bahrain’s Hidd were held 1-1.

Jazira will next play Shurta in their final Round 1 game and have a tough two weeks ahead as they struggle with Ramtha for 2nd place in the Jordan Professional League. As the team picked up steam in the event, they scored their first win over Hidd 1-0, ending a streak of draws earlier in the event when they were held by Hidd, Shurta and Wadi Ness by a score of 1-1 respectively. 

Wihdat have never won the AFC Cup in the past seven times they competed.

Jazira are taking part for the first time after two-time AFC Cup champs and League runner-up Faisali declined to take part this season.

Earlier this season, Wihdat exited the AFC Champions League losing 1-0 to ACL and AFC Cup holders Kuwait’s Qadissieh, 

The AFC cup has grouped 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 champs That Ras exited the Round of 16 while former AFC Cup champs Shabab Urdun exited in Round 1. They were also eliminated by Bahrain’s Hidd in their preliminary round of the AFC Champions League.

Standings

Group A

Group B