National football team readiness under scrutiny

AMMAN — The national football team is now on break until November 8.

when the team will regroup to play two more friendlies in the final phase of preparations for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) 2015 Asian Cup in Australia.

Jordan hosted Kuwait in two matches this week, losing the first 1-0 and leading 1-0 in the second before the guests tied 1-1. The team also beat the U-23 squad 2-0 as new head coach Ray Wilkins tried to assess the line-up named and amend any gaps in the run-up to the Asian Cup.

Although early to judge, the Kuwaiti trial raised some eyebrows as to the players preparedness and team’s competitive chances. Wilkins was quoted by the local media as saying that options are open for the final line-up and the resumption of the league this weekend will give team officials a chance to recall other players as needed. 

Jordan dropped 13 spots to 69th in the latest FIFA rankings after they held China 1-1, lost to Uzbekistan 2-0 and Columbia 3-0 as the squad kicked off a series of high level friendlies aimed at giving the line-up optimum competitive experience against leading teams ahead of the Asian Cup.

The Kingdom qualified to the 2015 Asian Cup after finishing second in Group A qualifiers behind leaders Oman. They were drawn to play in Group D with 2011 titleholders Japan, Iraq and Palestine.

Wilkins, who left for Manama, Bahrain, to attend the Iraq-Bahrain match said he was not “fully satisfied with the matches against Kuwait”, adding that “the result was not as important as the aim of choosing the best players and achieve our common goals”.

The coach said there was a lot of work to be done and that the team could be well prepared. “We need to instil a new attitude of playing for a win,” was his first observation after watching earlier league matches. 

Jordan is set to host South Korea on November 14 and possibly another team during the upcoming team camp.

They are also set to meet Uzbekistan on December 20 as well as the UAE and Bahrain in Australia ahead of the Asian Cup.