Wilkins tasks team for Asian tourney

AMMAN – The national team’s head coach on Tuesday called up Amer Shafie back into the line-up for the Asian Football Confederation’s 2015 Asian Cup in Australia. 

"I sat with Shafie and explained the situation to him. After sitting with him I was convinced that he is capable of coming back into the squad. I fully respect that he is a fantastic goalkeeper," the head coach Raymond Wilkins told reporters during a press conference at the Jordan Football Association (JFA) headquarters. 

Wilkins announced the national team's 23-strong official list of players that excluded the team's former captain Amer Theeb, as well as Thaer Bawab and Hassan Abdul Fatah.

The head coach attributed Theeb’s exclusion to the player’s limited time on the field due to injury. 

"The one person that I am leaving out of the squad that I really lost a lot of sleepover is Theeb. This was the biggest decision I had to make. He is one of the most professional men I have ever met in my career. Also, in the Arab states he has a lot of respect," he added.

Wilkins said he had a wide range of older and younger players, but that he decided to go with the younger players "because the energy they would bring to Australia is important".

Wilkins said he and  the JFA decided to cancel a training camp that was supposed to be held in Dubai and opted to train in Amman. 

However, the team will travel to Dubai to play Uzbekistan in a friendly match in preparation for the contest.

The Kingdom reached the tournament's quarter-finals on two occasions and the Englishman voiced hope that they would go further than that. 

Jordan plays in
Group D and take on Japan, Iraq and Palestine.