Sport News

[yazm1991]

JOR 2-1 SIN – Yaseen strike seals Jordan’s berth

Anas Bani Yaseen's second-half strike secured Jordan's place at the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™ finals following a 2-1 win over Singapore in their last Group E match at King Abdullah International stadium on Wednesday.

The hosts opened the scoring through Odai Al Saify after nine minutes but Singapore levelled four minutes after the break through Noh Alam Shah.

However, Yaseen grabbed the decisive goal for Jordan a minute after the hour mark.

It was a heartbreaking blow for Singapore as a point would have been enough for them to qualify with Iran having beaten Thailand 1-0 in the other group game.

Jordan started well and it did not take long for them to open the scoring when Al Saify headed home Amer Deeb's cross with less than 10 minutes on the clock.

The goal buoyed the hosts and they dominated possession, but had to wait until the 26th minute to create their second chance when Al Saify's was denied by Singapore goalkeeper Lionel Lewis.

The visitors were struggling to contain Al Saify and he had another chance to score after 39 minutes when he dribbled into the area after a picking up a pass from Hassouneh Al Sheikh (pictured) but he again failed to beat Lewis.

A minute before half time, Al Saify turned provider, sending Al Sheikh free down the left but the Jordanian skipper hit the side netting.

The break seemed to rejuvenate Singapore as they came out strong after the restart and deservedly levelled in the 49th minute when Aleksandar Duric fed a pass to Alam Shah, who slotted the ball into the right corner past Jordan goalkeeper Amer Shafi.

But that good work was undone when Jordan regained the lead in the 61st minute when Deeb's corner from the left was headed home with by Yaseen.

From then on there would be only one winner and only the woodwork denied Jordan scoring a third in the 74th minute when Deeb's drive rattled the bar before the midfielder went close once again eight minutes before time but his effort flew narrowly wide.

[yazm1991]

Massive national effort puts Jordan Rally back on track

A staggering reconstruction operation has put Jordan back on line to host a sparkling World Rally Championship (WRC) event from April 1-3, according to a statement from organisers.

The worst rains for 20 years decimated large parts of the rally route, rendering many roads impassable, but a joint national effort between the army, government and the Greater Amman Municipality and coordination by the organising committee over the last 10 days has put the Kingdom back on track.

“We still have a lot of work to do but the effort has been astonishing,” clerk of the course Khaled Zakaria was quoted in the statement as saying. “The storms left us with an almighty challenge but it has been taken head on with 90 per cent of the work now complete. It has been an incredible team endeavour considering the damage that we faced.”

The route required some fine tuning, resulting in the iconic water splash next to the Dead Sea no longer being included in the route. It has also meant the total special stages’ kilometres have been shaved back to 339km. There was also severe damage to the Service Park which has also now been rectified.

Jordan’s problems are compounded by the fact that a majority of the stages run under sea level, meaning that rainwater continues to cascade down from the higher ground many days after the rain has stopped.

Remarkably, no stages have been cancelled meaning that the world’s best drivers will still tackle 21 of the toughest stages to be found anywhere on the calendar over three days of exhilarating action.

The event gets underway with a ceremonial start in the Roman provincial city of Jerash, north of Amman, on April 1, before snaking its way through the Jordan Valley towards the Dead Sea on Day One. Day Two and Three will see action sweep through the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas before a podium finish at the Service Park.

Jordan is Round 3 of the 2010 WRC, with current world champion Sebastien Loeb leading the standings following his second place finish in Sweden and victory in Mexico last week.

[yazm1991]

Jordan Motorsport says preparations ready

Final touches to host the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), which will kick off on April 1 from the spectacular Oval Plaza in Jerash, are being placed, according to the organising committee.

The April 1-3 event, to be held under the patronage of HRH Prince Feisal, chairman of Jordan Motorsport, is a continuation of the success in 2008 when Jordan became the first country in the region to host a round of the WRC.

At a press conference on Monday, Vice Chairman of the Executive Motor Sports Council Amer Bashir said that the Kingdom is ready to host the rally, adding the sport event has the support of His Majesty King Abdullah and Prince Feisal, “who made it possible to place Jordan on the world map”.

"We want to assure fans that everything is set to take them to Jerash to enjoy this event as huge efforts have been exerted to ensure that everything is according to the plan and FIA standards," he added.

“The fact that the rally will start from the historical city of Jerash gives the event a touristic angle for everyone to enjoy, especially that the city officials have facilitated everything to host fans who will watch the event and cheer for their favourite driver," he stated.

The event will join the third round of the WRC and the third round of the Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) as points will be calculated in both events.

"We took the OK from the FIA to include the third round of MERC in the WRC round, which means drivers taking part in the MERC round will also have a chance to add points in the WRC round if they are registered in the WRC," Khaled Zakaria, Jordan Rally clerk of the course, said, indicating that a total of 36 teams are registered in the WRC round representing 19 countries including the Kingdom.

Jordan will have three teams participating in the WRC round and nine competing in the MERC round.

The Kingdom will have a strong presence in the rally with Amjad Farrah, the only Jordanian to win the Jordan Rally in 2004, heading the list after being granted a wild card to take part in the Production Cars section of Jordan WRC event.

Jordan Motorsport, the organisers, can include a local driver in the more prestigious Production WRC (PWRC) field and Farrah has received the nod in recognition of his efforts for more than a decade of top level regional rallying.

“I am really looking forward to taking part next month against some of the fastest and most skilled drivers in the world and I hope that Jordanians will come out and show their support too,” Farrah said.

Meanwhile, Jordan's rally driver Mazen Tantash, who will be driving a Mitsubishi Evo 9, said this year’s rally is different from any other event due to the various levels of competition and classes it creates.

Following the ceremonial launch, at 11:00am, drivers will travel the short distance to start their competitive kilometres in the forests of Rumman before continuing south with stages through the Jordan Valley and finishing close to the Dead Sea headquarters. Action will continue for two days, with the finale expected at the Dead Sea on April 3.

Drivers will have to cover a total distance of 911 kilometres with 339km in Special Stages.

French driver Sebastien Loeb will be leading the standings following his second place finish in Sweden and victory in Mexico last week.

[yazm1991]

West Asian tourney ahead; Jordan 102nd in FIFA ranking

The West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) will hold its extraordinary meeting in Amman next week with the upcoming championship venue high on the agenda.

Secretary General Fadi Zureiqat was quoted in the local media on Thursday as saying: “Iraq might replace Lebanon as the venue set for September 24.”

The UAE and Yemen are set to join WAFF after they joined the zone alongside Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Syria and Iran.

Meanwhile, Jordan jumped four spots to 102nd when FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking was issued on Wednesday.

Last month, Jordan snatched a qualifying berth to the 2011 Asian Football Federation (AFC) Asian Cup finals in Qatar, after finishing second in their group following a 2-1 win over Singapore.

The Kingdom kicked off their Asian Cup qualifying campaign in January 2009 getting off to an inconsistent start, tying Thailand 0-0 at home and losing 2-1 to Singapore and eventually leading to a reshuffle in the team's coaching staff. The squad then played Iran, losing 1-0 in the away game but winning the return leg 1-0.

Jordan's technical director Adnan Hamad is hopeful the win will signal the start of an upturn in fortunes for the national team.

“This win is a big achievement for our national team as we were so far behind in the qualifiers before returning to winning ways and qualifying for the finals, although it came in the last match,” the AFC website quoted Hamad as saying.

This was Jordan's eighth time at the qualifiers since first taking part in 1972. However, since the event kicked off in 1956, the Kingdom only reached the Asian Cup finals once before at the 13th Asian Cup finals in 2004 in China, where, by reaching the quarters, the team jumped to the best ever FIFA rank of 37th in August 2004.

The Jordan Football Association is now readying an appreciating ceremony for the Kingdom's national squads: the U-16 football team qualified to the AFC U-16 Championship 2010 for the first time in its history. In addition, the U-19 team qualified to the AFC U-19 Championship.

It is the third time the Kingdom's team reaches the AFC U-19 Championship. In 2006, the team made it to the semis and qualified to the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada, and in 2008, they struggled in qualification, and exited the championship in the first round.

The latest release of the FIFA ranking saw no changes in the world's top three teams still dominated by Spain, Brazil and the Netherlands. They are followed by Portugal, Italy, Germany, England, France, Argentina and Croatia.

Australia remained top Asian team followed by Japan and South Korea while Egypt is still the top Arab team followed by Algeria and Tunisia.

Last year, Jordan was inconsistent in both friendlies and Asian Cup qualifiers and dipped to the lowest rank of 129th in September 2009.

[yazm1991]

World Cup fever grips Jordanians

The 2010 Football World Cup kicks off in South Africa Friday, but football fever has been noticeable with Jordanian fans for quite some time.

Ahmad Bdoor, from the northern city of Irbid, will be watching his favourite team, Brazil, in a cafژ on university street, which is packed with tens of coffee shops prepared with large screens for the month-long event.

“I could not afford subscribe to Al Jazeera sports channels to be able to watch the games at home,” the 21-year-old university student said.

World Cup coverage rights in the Arab world were acquired by Al Jazeera Sport, which can only be accessed by purchasing a card that costs around JD65 for one month only.

Rami Qoftan, a municipality worker in Irbid, paid almost half of his salary to buy the card that will enable him to watch the event and cheer for the only Arab representative, Algeria.

“I get paid around JD150 per month, but the championship happens once every four years, so I thought it was worth paying the money,” he said, adding that in addition to supporting Algeria he will also be backing Brazil.

Mohammad Hamdan, from Amman, on whose car flutters an Algerian flag, said he will be carefully watching the Argentine team’s performance because of his favourite football star Lionel Messi.

“All Arabs should support Algeria, because it is our only representative in the competition, but Messi is my hero,” he told The Jordan Times, showing this reporter pictures of the Argentine team and of the “world’s best player” outside a shopping mall.

Jordan’s national team never made it to the finals, but Jordanians always follow the World Cup, like many others across the world whose national teams compete, said Khalid Awamleh, a private sector employee interviewed over the phone.

“I’am a diehard fan of Spain,” Amani Salem said, adding that “many people believe Brazilians are the favourites to win the World Cup, but I want to tell them to wait and see what the Spaniards will do”.

Not all Jordanians are as excited by the big event. Mohammad Abbadi, a taxi driver in Amman worried that his business will suffer because of Jordanians getting cooped in for the matches.

“I’m not a football fan, but it is not because of this that I am not excited about the World Cup, it is because during the month-long competition we will go out of business as many people will be sitting either in their homes or in cafژs to watch the games,” he said.

Cafژ owners are slated to benefit the most during the World Cup, while taxi drivers may be the most hurt, said another cab driver who preferred to remain unnamed.

Ayman Radaideh, a cafژ owner in Irbid, said that hundreds of people are expected to be attending the games in his coffee shop, sporting the flags of partcipating teams.

Whether an enthusiastic fan, a football hater or just a neutral specatator of the euphoria surrounding the World Cup, the event is likely to leave its mark on the globe population. Jordan will be no exception.

[yazm1991]

Jordan up to 98th in FIFA rankings

Jordan finally broke the 100 barrier going up six spots to 98th when FIFA /Coca-Cola World Football Ranking was issued on Wednesday.

It was the first time in the top 100 since September 2007 when the team dipped out of the top ranked teams and started a steady decline that saw them fall to 129th in September 2009.

The latest release of the FIFA rankings saw newly-crowned World Cup and European champs Spain go up one place to take over the top spot as the Netherlands went up two spots to second and Brazil went down two places to 3rd.

They are followed by Germany (up two to 4th), Argentina (up three to 5th), Uruguay (up 10 to 6th) England (up one to 7th), Portugal (down 5 to 8th), Egypt (up three to 9th) and Chile (up eight to 10th).

The most remarkable climbers were South American underdog semifinalists Uruguay and African Cup of Nations champs Egypt, breaking into the top 10 as France went down 12 places to 21st, Italy six places to 11th and Croatia five places to 15th.

Australia remained top Asian team followed by Japan and South Korea while Egypt is still the top Arab team followed by Algeria and Tunisia.

In latest FIFA zonal ranking, among Asian Football Confederation teams, the Kingdom is now 14th, trailing Australia (20), Japan (32), South Korea (44), Iran (64), Saudi Arabia (68), Bahrain (69), Iraq (80), China (78), Oman (81), Kuwait (85), Uzbekistan (87), the UAE (88), Syria (92) and Qatar (98).

Among Arab teams, Jordan went up to 12th place, trailing Egypt (nine), Algeria (33), Tunisia (65), Saudi Arabia (68), Bahrain (69), Oman (81), Morocco (82), Kuwait (85), the UAE (88), Syria (92), Libya (96) and Qatar (98).

In addition to Uruguay and Japan, who were up 13 spots to 32, significant climbers were Paraguay, up 15 to 16th, Peru up 15 to 38th, New Zealand, up 24 to 54th, Trinidad and Tobago, up 19 to 76th, the UAE, up 13 to 88th, Botswana, up 23 to 93rd and Chad, up 19 to 124th.

Biggest droppers were Bermuda, down 25 spots to 159th, Iraq, down 24 to 104th, Haiti, down 39 to 130th, Ethiopia, down 23 to 146th, Panama, down 20 to 94th, and Cameroon, down 21 to 40th.

This year, the Jordan Football Association celebrated the qualification of the Kingdom’s national squads to their respective Asian competitions: the U-16 football team qualified to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-16 Championship 2010 for the first time in its history. In addition, the U-19 football team qualified to the AFC U-19 Championship for the third time.

The senior team is looking ahead to the 6th West Asian Championship in September, the 2014 World Cup qualifiers as well as 2011 Asian Cup finals in January, in which they were drawn in a tough Group B which includes Japan, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

[hakz2007]

It will be Jordan against China tonight on the Fiba-Asia Basketball championship!

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