Jordan plays Vietnam in Asian qualifiers

AMMAN — Jordan plays Vietnam in Saigon on Tuesday in its second Asian Cup Group C qualifier for the 2019 Asian Cup.

The national team leads Group C after it scored 7-0 win over lowly Cambodia while Vietnam held Afghanistan 1-1 in its opening qualifiers.

After elimination from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, advancing to the Asian finals is a priority. The Kingdom has steadily slid down FIFA rankings to 109th and the team has had an inconsistent two years compared to 2013 when Jordan was on the verge of qualifying to the 2014 World Cup for the first time.

The squad held a training camp and played Hong Kong in a friendly this week with coach Abdullah Misfer telling the media it was the intention to “win both matches. Nothing less”. However, the squad was held 0-0 with Hong Kong after they beat them 4-0 in a friendly in Amman. Jordan earlier lost 1-0 to Iraq 1-0 in a friendly in Basra. 

Team coaches underline the importance of taking each match at a time as beating Vietnam will maintain Jordan’s Group C lead with teams playing in six groups and group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) advancing to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals as well as the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Teams already having qualified include Australia, China, Iraq, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan and the host the UAE.

Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972, Jordan reached the Asian Championship three times: the pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup, when they lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA ranking of 37th in August 2004. They also reached the Asian Cup in 2011