Jazira flying high as Ramtha loom

AMMAN — The Jordan Cup Round 2 kicked off Monday with tough matches after Round 1 ended with Ramtha and Jazira heading the tables of the two groups.

Ahli drew 1-1 with Baqa'a, Jazira outclassed That Ras 2-0, while Wihdat overpowered Shabab Urdun 2-0 on Monday.

The upcoming round will see Ramtha take on Faisali, Manshieh take on Sahab and Hussein face Sarih on Tuesday. With Monday’s win Jazira is still atop Group B after the past week's results which saw Jazira upset Wihdat 3-1, That Ras scoring a 2-0 win over Sarih, Shabab Urdun beat  Hussein 2-1.

In Group A, leader Ramtha beat Sahab 4-0, Faisali upset Ahli 2-1 and Manshieh beat Baqa'a 3-2.

The top two teams from each group will move on to the semis, which will be played over two rounds with no Division 1 teams playing this year.

So far in the current season, Jazira leads the Jordan Professional Football League standings 6 points ahead of Wihdat and Faisali. Ahli won the first major competition on the 2016/17 football calendar, when they beat reigning league champs Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup. In the Jordan Football Association Shield — back on the calendar after four years — Shabab Urdun scored a major 5-1 win over Faisali. It was Shabab Urdun's second Shield title after they first won in 2007.

Last season, Wihdat retained the league title for their third consecutive and 15th league title since they moved up to the Professional League in 1975. Faisali beat Wihdat to clinch the Super Cup while it was Ahli who made history when they beat Shabab Urdun to win their first Jordan Cup final. 

It was momentous for Ahli fans and officials as the title came after years in the backstage.  Although the club is a long-time veteran and founder of the game in the Kingdom, Ahli were relegated to Division 1 in 2004 for the first time in their history. However, they have been back in the headlines after making it back to the Pro League in 2014, finishing fifth in 2015 and third last year.