Women’s football team leaves for Asian qualifiers

AMMAN — The women’s national football team left to Myanmar on Wednesday for the 2016 Summer Olympics football tournament Round 2 qualifiers kicking off in Myanmar on September 14.

The Kingdom topped Asian Group B qualifiers beating Uzbekistan 2-0, Hong Kong 1-0, Palestine 6-0 and qualified to Round 2 where it will join other group leaders Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar. Only the top team from this round will move to Round 3 to play the top five seeded teams — Japan, Australia, South Korea, North Korea and China — and only the top two qualify to represent Asia at the Olympic Games.

Jordan is now 53rd in the latest FIFA World Rankings leading all Arab teams at 11th in the Asian continent. Coach Khader Eid noted players were upbeat but “the task of clinching a berth from some of the best teams in East Asia was not easy”.

The Jordanian squad only had a series of local matches and after hosting Morocco in two friendlies winning 2-1 and drawing 2-2, playing the 81st ranked north Africans was not seen as a big advantage as observers noted that the teams preparedness had many gaps both on the technical and fitness levels.

It will be Jordan’s second time in qualifiers after the 2012 London Olympic qualifiers when it advanced to Round 2. In 2014, the senior women’s team exited Round 1 of the Asian Games and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, where it was also the only Arab team to have ever qualified. The squad is the reigning West Asian champ after winning the title with Iran, Lebanon and the UAE missing the event.

Friendlies ahead for U-16 team

Meanwhile, as Jordan starts the countdown to host the 2016 U-17 Women’s World Cup, the Jordan Football Association is trying to secure more friendlies for the team including playing Egypt, Uzbekistan and the Bavarian team in October.

The squad had a training camp in Germany and is slated to play Egypt on October 9 and 11 before leaving to Uzbekistan for a training camp and friendlies after October 20.

Women’s teams have been competing in all age divisions in the Asian zone. In 2014, the U-19 team was eliminated from Group A qualifiers for the 2015 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship after qualifying as the only Arab team in 2007. The U-16 girls team also failed to qualify to the 2015 AFC U-16 Women’s Championship after qualifying in 2013.