Jordan loses to Iraq in Asian Cup opener

AMMAN — Jordan’s national team failed to win its first match at the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) 2015 Asian Cup when it went down 1-0 to Iraq at Brisbane Stadium on Monday.

Iraq possessed the ball more as both teams looked for scoring chances. Jordan’s Odai Al Saify and Mohammad Mustafa missed two chances to score before Iraq’s Yaser Qasim scored in the 77th minute.

Jordan was reduced to 10 men after Anas Bani Yasin got his second booking. With Japan being the clear contender to lead the group and possibly win the Cup, the defeat was a big drawback for Jordan, who will next play Palestine on January 16. 

Jordan’s hopes of taking the second qualifying spot from the group rested upon winning the opening match against 2011 champs Iraq.

Jordan coach Ray Wilkins said he was disappointed not to at least get a draw.

“I felt during the game we were more than equal, more than worthy of earning a point,” Wilkins told The Associated Press. “My team at the moment are very disappointed and down. It’s my job to pick them up and get started again.”

Wilkins knows he needs to work on the finishing.

“That’s the slight problem we’ve been having, is the last third of the pitch,” he said. “We’ve put teams under difficulty when we’ve attacked, but we need a little bit of luck to go our way. We need it to go off someone’s backside and fly in the net. That will kick-start I’m sure a good period for us.”

In the other Group D match, four time titleholders Japan beat first time qualifiers Palestine 4-0. 

The Palestinians, who qualified by winning the AFC Challenge Cup in the Maldives last year, got an early taste of competition in Asia’s top flight.

Japan needed only eight minutes to score its first goal as Endo’s long-range strike beat Palestine captain and goalkeeper Ramzi Saleh’s dive.

“Endo’s early goal was great,” Okazaki, was voted player of the match, told The Associated Press. “It gave the team great momentum. We played well, however, we could have been better.

“We are not satisfied with four goals we should have scored more.”

The event, which kicked off in Australia on January 9, has a total of nine Arab teams among 16 playing in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle.

Teams include:

Group A: Australia, South Korea, Oman and Kuwait.

Group B: Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, China and North Korea.

Group C: Iran, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.

In the latest FIFA World Rankings, Jordan dropped 12 spots to 93rd. Other group ranks are: Japan (54), Iraq (114) and Palestine (115).

Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1971, this is Jordan’s third time at the Asian Cup finals — twice reaching the quarter-finals in 2004 and 2011.

Group D standings