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AMMAN — The 16th West Asian Clubs Championship concluded in Amman late Monday with no Jordanian teams qualifying to the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Champions Cup.

Orthodoxi lost 87-80 to Iraq’s Shurta as Iran’s Petroshemi, Lebanon’s Riyadi and Shurta advanced from the zonal qualifiers.

Orthodoxi appeared below form compared to the other teams, losing all four matches 96-66 to Iran’s Azad, 87-80 to Lebanon’s Champville, and 11-75 to Riyadi. Former champs Syria’s Wihdeh and Yemen’s Sana’s declined this year.

Petroshemi won the title after they scored four wins, the last over Riyadi 70-68. Azad beat Champville to finish third, while Champville finished fourth but Shurta qualified as the competition regulations stipulate that the top three teams, provided they represent different countries, qualify to the ABC Champions Cup.  Zain were the only Jordanian team to win the Champions Cup in 2006.

In the last edition in 2014, then league champs Applied Science University (ASU) finished third while Jordan’s other representative, Ittihad Schools, bowed out of the quarters. Iran’s Mahram beat compatriot Petroshemi to win the title for the fourth time. Mahram, ASU and Iraq’s Kahraba moved to the Asian Champions Cup. 

Orthodoxi were the only Jordanian team to win the title in 1999, but runners-up to the event were Jazira in 1998, Orthodoxi in 2001 and 2002, Arena in 2003 and Zain in 2009.

AMMAN — Teams return to local competition in the Jordan Basketball League on Wednesday after a week-long break for the West Asian Basketball Championship hosted by Orthodoxi.

Teams will start Leg 2 of Round 2 before the final two teams moving to best-of-five play-offs for the title are decided.

Riyadi ended Leg 1 matches atop the standings after they beat Awdeh 86-61 to score their third straight win. They overcame Round 1 unbeaten team Hurrieh 73-67 and Orthodoxi 73-65. 

Riyadi reversed their Round 1 form and despite the injury of centre Wisam Sous, who is out for the season, the team now needs to keep their focus in Leg 2 of the competition to play for the title.

Orthodoxi need to put pick up the team from the West Asian slump and try to repeat their wins over Hurrieh 78-58 and Awdeh 86-82 in Leg 1.

Awdeh seem to have lost their grip after they were the only team that managed to beat Round 1 leaders Hurrieh 65-61 earlier in Leg 1. 

At the other end of the standings in the battle to avoid relegation Kufr Youba and Jalil held on to their spots pushing Ghazzet Hashem and Nashama to be relegated to Division 1.

Hurrieh had finished Round 1 with an unbeaten record, while Orthodoxi were second after they beat Riyadi. With teams like Applied Science University, Ittihad, Wihdat pulling out of the competition, Awdeh joined the top four. 

Following two legs of matches in the current Round 2, final standings from 1-4 will be decided to determine who advances to the final play-offs for the title.

The season started with Orthodoxi winning the Jordan Cup and aiming to retain the league title which they won for the record 23rd time last year.

Apart from Riyadi and Orthodoxi, leading clubs abandoning the game this season leading to major changes in the league. After winning the league four times, the last being in 2013 and 2014, both ASU and Ittihad disbanded their teams over differences with the Jordan Basketball Federation which led to a sharp decline in the game locally and Jordan’s regional competitive chances.

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan — Anthony Davis scored a team-record 59 points and added 20 rebounds as the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Detroit Pistons 111-106 on Sunday.

The previous club record was 50 points by Jamal Mashburn, set exactly 13 years earlier against the Grizzlies. Davis went 24 of 34 from the floor and made his only two 3-pointers. He added nine free throws in 10 tries.

Davis also broke the scoring record at the Palace of Auburn Hills, set by LeBron James with 48 points in an Eastern Conference finals game on June 1, 2007. The star centre joined Shaquille O’Neal and Chris Webber as the only NBA players with 50 points and 20 rebounds in a game since 1983.

“That was a lot of fun because the rim looked so big that it felt like everything I shot was going to go in,” Davis said. “I wasn’t keeping track of my point total, but the guys were telling me at the timeouts. They wanted me to get 60.”

Jrue Holiday added 20 points for the Pelicans. He was the only other player to score in double figures for New Orleans.

Elsewhere, Cleveland topped Oklahoma City 115-92 on the road for their fifth straight victory, San Antonio pulled away late for a 118-111 win over Phoenix, and surging Portland earned their fifth straight win, beating Utah 115-111.

In Oklahoma City, Kevin Love scored 29 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field to match his second-best scoring performance of the season.

LeBron James added 25 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, while Tristan Thompson had 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Russell Westbrook had 20 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds for Oklahoma City, which lost their second straight at home coming out of the All-Star break. It was the Thunder’s most lopsided defeat of the season.

San Antonio’s Patty Mills had 21 points, matching his career high with six 3-pointers, and Tony Parker added 22, including a spinning drive that made it a seven-point game with 1:03 to play.

LaMarcus Aldridge also had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who were without injured All-Star Kawhi Leonard. He was sidelined by tightness in his left calf.

The Spurs improved to 47-9, a franchise-best through 56 games. The Suns lost their 11th in a row and 26th in the last 28 games.

C.J. McCollum scored 31 points, including two clinching free throws with 2.7 seconds left, and Damian Lillard had 30 points and five assists for Portland, which has won 14 of 17 overall.

Lillard made a tiebreaking layup with 23.4 seconds left and McCollum hit two foul shots to give Portland a 113-109 lead. After Derrick Favours scored for Utah, McCollum made two more free throws to clinch the win for the Trail Blazers.

In other games, DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points and Kyle Lowry added 18 as Toronto beat Memphis 98-85 for their eighth consecutive home win.

Jonas Valanciunas had 10 points and 12 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season and Cory Joseph scored 14 off the bench to help the Raptors rebound from consecutive losses.

In Chicago, Derrick Rose and E’Twaun Moore had 24 points apiece to lead the Bulls to a 126-115 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Kobe Bryant’s final game at the United Centre.

Bryant finished with 22 points on 8-for-20 shooting in 27 minutes.

In New York, Kemba Walker scored 28 points and Al Jefferson added 18 in his second game back from right knee surgery as Charlotte extended its winning streak to a season-high five games with a 104-96 win over the Nets.

Also, Dallas topped Philadelphia 129-103, Boston beat Denver 121-101 and Indiana outlasted Orlando 105-102.

GENEVA — The Sepp Blatter era at FIFA is set to finally end Friday when football’s scandal-scarred world body picks a new president after nine months of crisis.

An election meeting designed to give FIFA a fresh start with a new leader could yet be overshadowed by its criminally corrupt past.

Voters return to Zurich this week unsure who is the next target of federal law enforcement agencies in the United States and Switzerland, who have sent FIFA into meltdown with waves of arrests, extraditions and guilty pleas.

Swiss prosecutors could decide this week is best to meet key witnesses in their widening case. Many football officials are making possibly their last working trip to Switzerland until May 2019, when the next scheduled FIFA election should be held in Zurich.

At the last election in May, Blatter won a fifth presidential term two days after FIFA’s favoured five-star hotel in Zurich and its own headquarters were raided. The pressure of criminal investigations soon forced Blatter from his beloved FIFA in his 41st year on the payroll.

Now, leaders of FIFA’s 209 member federations visit the tiny Swiss city again to elect a successor for the now-banned 79-year-old who has been president since 1998. The winner will be just the fourth elected FIFA chief in more than 50 years.

Two front runners have emerged in a five-candidate contest: Asia’s football leader, Sheikh Salman of Bahrain, and Gianni Infantino, the Swiss general secretary of European governing body UEFA.

The other candidates are former FIFA vice president HRH Prince Ali, who lost to Blatter in May; former FIFA official Jerome Champagne of France; and South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale, once an inmate of Robben Island prison with Nelson Mandela.

Infantino acknowledged that police could hit FIFA for the fourth time in nine months.

“They know what is best for their work to be done in the most efficient way,” Infantino told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “If I’m elected president of FIFA, what they can count on [is] not 100 but 200 per cent with me to clean and to put anyone in jail who has done anything bad for football.”

The three previous strikes — arresting seven men, including two FIFA vice presidents, on May 27; interrogating Blatter and former protege Michel Platini on September 25; arresting two more FIFA vice presidents on December 3 — were on days that FIFA’s discredited executive committee met. It meets again Wednesday.

Sheikh Salman suggests government agencies have tried to influence FIFA politics. That view is shared by Blatter and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who claimed the US wants the 2018 World Cup taken from his country.

“Choosing the time and place during an election or an [executive committee] meeting,” Sheikh Salman told the AP this month of previous police raids, “I think this raises a lot of doubts on why, and leave people a bit suspicious on the intentions.”

The Bahraini royal was “absolutely” sure FIFA did enough since May to deserve being left in peace this week.

FIFA also hopes so, and aims to persuade the US Department of Justice that it is a victim of systemic corruption and should not be indicted.

So, on Friday, the 209 members can also vote through wide-ranging reforms to restructure FIFA. These would dilute the president’s authority, empower FIFA’s staff and increase oversight by independent experts.

If FIFA was indicted, it would join 41 football and marketing officials, plus marketing agencies, who have been charged or pleaded guilty so far in the sprawling US case. Blatter, who cannot be extradited from Switzerland, is a confirmed target.

American investigators have focused on bribery in North and South America valued at $200 million for awarding commercial rights for continental competitions. They also alleged cash-for-votes paid through a FIFA account linked to 2010 World Cup host South Africa.

Swiss prosecutors began by searching for money laundering in the 2018-2022 World Cup bid contests won by Russia and Qatar. Liaising with American counterparts, they went far beyond that brief to target all FIFA business.

Last September, a Swiss criminal case was opened against Blatter for mismanagement of FIFA money. It led FIFA’s ethics committee to ban both Blatter and Platini for eight years. Verdicts in their appeals are expected Monday.

Even if barred from the election hall, Blatter has been an election factor taking calls from voters seeking advice, he told a French radio station this week.

“Vote with your conscience. Vote for who you find good,” said Blatter, who has criticised Infantino in interviews. They were born in neighbouring villages in the Valais region.

Infantino’s campaign has tempted voters with more: Expanding the World Cup from 32 to 40 teams to increase FIFA’s $5 billion tournament income; bigger annual grants to national and continental bodies; new money for small regional groups.

Salman’s manifesto is closer to Blatter’s thinking though he promises a hands-off leadership style.

Still, there is genuine warmth between the favourites.

“I get along very well with him,” Sheikh Salman said of Infantino. “He’s a great guy.”

Infantino has not directly criticised the sheikh, who led Bahrain’s football federation during Arab Spring protests in 2011.

Prince Ali did attack, saying Sheikh Salman cannot gain respect because he failed to protect Bahrain national team players who were detained for attending pro-democracy events. They later alleged torture by security forces.

In a potentially tight race, one theory has Prince Ali’s voters holding the balance of power.

A plausible scenario sees Sheikh Salman and Infantino with significant support in the first-round ballot, yet short of up to 140 votes needed for outright victory, and maybe fewer than the 105-plus tally which could persuade rivals to concede ahead of a second vote.

A late campaigning opportunity was in Manhattan on Sunday, at the draw for Copa America Centenario. That 16-nation tournament is central to bribery allegations in the Department of Justice indictment.

By Wednesday, the election show is in downtown Zurich where FIFA will also open its $200 million museum this week.

Perhaps police and Blatter will join them.

LOS ANGELES — Klay Thompson scored 32 points, fellow Splash Brother Stephen Curry added 23 and the Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Clippers 115-112 on Saturday to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.

The Warriors were coming off a 32-point drubbing at Portland a night earlier that ended an 11-game winning streak. They appeared highly motivated to erase that memory from the opening tip, shooting 56 per cent in the first half and twice leading by 15 points in the second quarter.

Draymond Green had his NBA-leading 11th triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to help the defending champions improve to 49-5.

Jamal Crawford scored 25 points off the bench, Chris Paul added 24 and DeAndre Jordan had 16 points and 21 rebounds for the Clippers. They fell to 19-6 without injured Blake Griffin.

Pablo Prigioni’s 3-pointer left the Clippers trailing 115-112 with five seconds to go, long after both teams’ best players had gone to the bench. That brought Thompson, Curry, Green Harrison Barnes back in a hurry.

Andre Iguodala’s pass was stolen by C.J. Wilcox, but his panicked shot fell well short of the basket as time expired.

The Clippers again trailed by 15 early in the third when they briefly matched the Warriors basket-for-basket during a furious scoring stretch to close within five on a dunk by Jordan off Crawford’s alley-oop pass. Jordan threw down some highlight dunks that had fans roaring and Crawford scored on a one-handed scoop shot, getting fouled as he crashed to the floor and making the free throw for the three-point play.

Hassan Whiteside had 25 points and 23 rebounds returned from a one-game suspension to help the Miami Heat beat the Washington Wizards 114-94.

Whiteside was suspended for throwing an elbow at San Antonio centre Boban Marjanovic’s head on February 9.

Luol Deng had 27 points a night after scoring 30 points in a victory at Atlanta, and Goran Dragic added a season-high 24 points and had eight assists and seven rebounds. The Heat played without All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh for the second consecutive game.

Wade has a sore left knee.

“He had an MRI this morning,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before the game. “Everything came back negative. He’ll be day-to-day from here. He’s already starting to feel better.”

Bosh is out indefinitely because of a blood clot in his left leg.

Carmelo Anthony had 30 points and 11 rebounds and the New York Knicks snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 103-95 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Robin Lopez had 26 points and 16 rebounds to give interim coach Kurt Rambis his first victory since taking over for the fired Derek Fisher three games ago.

Jabari Parker had career highs of 28 points and 13 rebounds, Greg Monroe added 24 points and the Milwaukee Bucks had a 117-109 double-overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

ZURICH — FIFA has rejected a demand from a presidential candidate to use transparent voting booths at next week's election to ensure delegates do not photograph their ballot papers when they choose the head of football’s world ruling body.

The request came from HRH Prince Ali, who said he would take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), sport's highest tribunal.

Prince Ali wanted to ensure that transparent booths were used at the February 26 election "to safeguard the full transparency of the electoral proceedings", he said in a statement released by his French-based lawyer.

FIFA's 209 member national associations (FAs) each hold one vote at the election where Prince Ali is among five candidates standing to replace outgoing President Sepp Blatter, who is banned for eight years amid a graft scandal that has shaken soccer's global governing body. Under FIFA statutes, voting is secret.

The statement said Domenico Scala, head of FIFA's electoral committee, had admitted to Prince Ali in correspondence that the voters could produce evidence of their vote by using a mobile phone.

Scala rejected transparent booths, however, and said members would be reminded that voting is secret and told to hand over mobile phones and cameras before doing so.

"He [Scala] has said it is enough just to tell them they must not do so, and has rejected Prince Ali's request to use transparent voting booths," the statement said, adding that there was an "absence of any dedicated system to detect potential violations of this rule."

A spokesman for the electoral committee declined to comment.

Jerome Champagne, another presidential candidate, said this week that FAs were under pressure to vote for certain candidates and some had been asked to provide evidence of their vote.

Prince Ali has also said that FAs face reprisals if they fail to tow certain political lines.

"Development projects mysteriously stall; tournament hosting bids are suddenly compromised or withdrawn; national teams start to mysteriously face less favourable fixtures or and even referees," he said last week.

Meanwhile, Sepp Blatter said he will not support any of the five candidates standing to succeed him as FIFA president, though all but one of them had spoken to him about their bids.

World football’s governing body, embroiled in a corruption scandal that has led to indictments against several dozen senior officials in the United States, will vote for its new leader on February 26.

Blatter is not standing, having been banned for eight years for ethics violations.

“Four of the five candidates have spoken to me. I cannot take sides, that is not possible,” Blatter told French radio RMC.

He said several national federations had asked him who they should vote for, but he told them to vote as they saw fit.

Bahraini royal Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino of Switzerland are the two front-runners.

The other candidates are Prince Ali, Frenchman Jerome Champagne, the former deputy general secretary of FIFA, and South African businessman and politician Tokyo Sexwale.

PORTLAND, Oregon — Portland’s Damian Lillard scored a career-high 51 points to lead the Trail Blazers to a stunningly dominant 137-105 victory over the NBA-leading Golden State Warriors on Friday.

The Warriors lost for only the fifth time this season, and looked well below their best in their first game back from the All-Star break.

Golden State were one of three divisional leaders to lose on the day; Oklahoma City were beaten at home by Indiana, and Toronto were defeated by an undermanned Chicago.

In another key result, Miami won at Atlanta to leave the teams in a virtual tie atop the Southeast Division.

Portland’s C.J. McCollum added 21 points for the in-form Blazers, who have won nine of 10 to improve to 28-27, the first time they’ve been over a .500 winning percentage since they were 3-2 on November 4.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 31 points and five assists but it was not nearly enough to prevent an end to the team’s 11-game winning streak.

The Blazers used a stifling defence throughout the game, but especially in the third quarter when they forced the defending champions into 13 turnovers.

Indiana’s Monta Ellis scored 27 points to help the Pacers win 101-98 at Oklahoma City.

Paul George had 22 points and 10 assists for the Pacers.

Kevin Durant had 31 points while Russell Westbrook contributed a career-high 18 assists for the Thunder, who suffered a surprising home loss after coming into the game with 14 wins from their previous 16.

Chicago shook off the absence of three players, and a five-game losing skid, to beat Toronto 116-106.

Doug McDermott had a career-high 30 points and Derrick Rose scored 26 points for a Bulls team minus Jimmy Butler, Nikola Mirotic and Joakim Noah because of injuries.

Kyle Lowry had 27 points for the Raptors.

Miami also won in the absence of key players, taking a 115-111 victory at Atlanta.

The Heat are without Chris Bosh due to a blood clot, and also lost Dwyane Wade just before the game due to knee soreness.

Luol Deng stepped up in their absence as he scored 30 points and Josh McRoberts had 19; season highs for each player.

Jeff Teague led Atlanta with 23 points.

Utah’s Derrick Favours had 23 points and 10 rebounds to help the Jazz beat Boston 111-93.

Gordon Hayward added 22 points for the Jazz which got back to an even 27-27 record.

Isaiah Thomas had 25 points for the Celtics, who missed a good chance to make up ground on Toronto in the Atlantic.

San Antonio beat the Los Angeles Lakers 119-113 in the final matchup between Kobe Bryant and long-time Western Conference adversary Tim Duncan.

Bryant and Duncan have each led their clubs to five NBA titles and have at least one league MVP award to their credit — in addition to MVP of the Finals and All-Star game MVP.

Bryant, who is retiring at season’s end, had 25 points in 29 minutes for the Lakers.

Duncan finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds and Tony Parker scored 25 points to help San Antonio complete a four-game season sweep. The Spurs moved within three games of defending champion Golden State in the race for the league’s best record.

Orlando’s Victor Oladipo had 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and hit the 3-pointer that put the Magic ahead for good in overtime against Dallas en route to a 110-104 win.

The Mavericks overcame an early 21-point deficit to lead by as many as 14 and broke a franchise record with 19 3-pointers, but lost for the fifth time in six games.

Deron Williams scored 25 points for Dallas and Chandler Parsons added 24, and the pair combined to make 11 of 16 3-pointers.

Nik Vucevic led the Magic with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Washington led throughout and eased up in beating Detroit 98-86, led by John Wall’s 22 points.

Charlotte’s Kemba Walker scored 25 points as the Hornets edged Milwaukee 98-95 despite leaving out newly acquired guard Courtney Lee due to lack of training time with the team.

Memphis’ Mike Conley had 25 points as the Grizzlies defeated Minnesota 109-104.

Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins had 37 points and 20 rebounds in a strong performance that led the Kings past Denver 116-110.

Houston’s James Harden had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Rockets to a 116-100 win against free-falling Phoenix, which has lost 25 of 27.

Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez scored 33 points as the Nets beat New York 109-98 to hand the Knicks their seventh straight loss.

New Orleans’ Anthony Davis scored 18 of his 34 points in the first quarter to set up a 121-114 win against Philadelphia.

ROME/BRUSSELS — Cristiano Ronaldo ended his away scoring drought with an impressive second-half goal as Real Madrid won 2-0 at Roma on Wednesday in the first leg of the Round of 16 in the Champions League.

The victory also marked a successful debut for Zinedine Zidane as Madrid’s manager in the elite competition, with the 10-time champion taking a big step towards the quarter-finals.

It was Ronaldo’s first goal on the road since November 29, when he scored a penalty against Eibar.

“Everyone expects [Ronaldo] to score and today he was able to,” Zidane said. “I’m happy for these two away goals and that we didn’t concede any goals.”

Shortly before the hour mark, Ronaldo collected a pass up the left flank from Marcelo, rapidly cut inside — moving the ball with a deft flick of his legs — and launched a powerful shot that deflected off Roma fullback Alessandro Florenzi.

“He’s a player against whom you can’t concede anything. He can go right or left, it doesn’t matter which way,” Florenzi said. “I was also unlucky, because I deflected the shot and the ball went in right under the crossbar.”

After scoring, Ronaldo ran towards Zidane and hugged the French great, who replaced Rafa Benitez last month.

Substitute Jese then sealed the victory with an angled shot four minutes from the end after Roma failed to take advantage of several opportunities for an equaliser.

At the final whistle, Zidane congratulated each of his players one by one, including those who didn’t play.

“I do it because the team is the most important thing,” said Zidane, who scored the winning goal for Madrid in the 2002 Champions League final against Bayer Leverkusen. “It’s the players who make the difference and today it was Ronaldo — it’s often him — but everyone’s contribution is important, even those who don’t play much. We win all together.”

It was the 89th career goal in the Champions League for the three-time FIFA world player of the year — adding to his record haul — and his 12th this season.

The return leg is on March 8 in Madrid.

New Roma coach Luciano Spalletti, who replaced Rudi Garcia last month, wasn’t too disappointed.

“We played a great match,” Spalletti said. “We were just unfortunate on several chances and we’re still conceding too much in defence.”

Still, the scoreline was an improvement for Roma compared to recent encounters with European powers.

Roma were beaten 6-1 at Barcelona in November and fell 7-1 to Bayern Munich at home last season.

The Giallorossi also lost 7-1 at home to Manchester United in the 2007 quarter-finals — a match in which Ronaldo scored twice.

While Madrid controlled for long stretches on Wednesday, Zidane’s side had trouble finding the target until Ronaldo’s goal.

The visitors’ only significant chance in the first half was a long-distance volley from Marcelo that just missed the target shortly after the half-hour mark.

Roma relied on counterattacks and the speed of Mohamed Salah on the right flank, although it was Stephan El Shaarawy who had the better opportunities, chipping high in the 17th following a precise cross from newly-signed Diego Perotti.

Shaarawy, who was recently loaned from AC Milan, also had a chance seconds before the break but was stopped by Raphael Varane just as he was about to shoot.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, struggled to make an impact early on, shooting a long free kick well wide for his only sight of goal in the first period

Neither side managed a shot on target in the first half.

Early in the second, James Rodriguez had his head bloodied when William Vainqueur reached up with his boot to intercept a cross from Ronaldo and made contact with the Colombia international.

Roma substitute Edin Dzeko set up Vainqueur for a long-distance attempt at an equaliser that went wide and Ronaldo then nearly scored again. His delicate header made fans inside the Stadio Olimpico hold their breath as it went across the box before ending up just wide.

Jese, who replaced Rodriguez, then had an easy time beating Roma defender Lucas Digne for Madrid’s second goal, with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny having no chance.

Ronaldo then exited to a standing ovation from the small pocket of about 1,000 Madrid fans, who chanted “Ronaldo, Ronaldo”.

Paying back

Julian Draxler’s debut season at VfL Wolfsburg after a 35-million-euro transfer from Schalke 04 was below expectations until he started paying some of the investment back with two goals in their 3-2 win over Gent in the Champions League.

Germany international Draxler was under fire from Schalke fans even before the season started for leaving the Ruhr valley club he had played since the age of eight, drawn to cash-rich Wolfsburg in one of the most expensive German transfers.

The 22-year-old was supposed to replace Kevin De Bruyne, who left to join Manchester City, but instead of delivering assists and goals, Draxler saw criticism mount by the week, his string of lacklustre performances doing little to justify the massive investment.

Until Wednesday he had failed to live up to the hype of his transfer, with last season’s Bundesliga runners-up and German Cup winners struggling in eighth place in the league.

But the attacking midfielder, a World Cup winner in 2014 at the tender age of 20, stepped up to the plate in Belgium, first launching a move he would complete with a low shot for the lead.

He then showed his stunning skills, flicking the ball through the legs of a defender and then chipping it over the keeper for a remarkable 2-0.

“We always said Julian Draxler is the best German football has to offer at the moment,” Wolfsburg sports director, Klaus Allofs, who lured the player to the Volkswagen-owned club, told reporters.

“But he needs some more time until he can deliver that quality at every game. But he will do it and he will do it with us. I think everyone saw today that he is an outstanding player.”

Draxler’s goals and another from Max Kruse helped them to a 3-0 lead before a late comeback from the Belgians with two late goals.

That two-goal spell was the evidence once more this season that Wolfsburg may have massive potential with a talented squad but their concentration lapses remain a major concern.

“I have very mixed feelings at the moment,” Draxler told reporters. “It was by far my best game for Wolfsburg, with two goals. But we basically lost the plot yet still managed to get a good result away.”

“I am focusing on my performance and sometimes it works better than other times. But I am happy to be in good form at the moment. My first Champions League double, I think I will keep the ball.”

A good run in the Champions League, with the return leg in Germany next month, could also make Draxler’s first season at Wolfsburg equally memorable and profitable.

AMMAN — The upcoming 14th week of the 64th Jordan Professional League might make a big difference on standings which have been inconsistent throughout the competition.

Wihdat took the lead atop the standings after a 5-1 win over Kurfsoum. They next play Shabab Urdun who share second place with Faisali and Ahli.

Shabab Urdun were held 1-1 with Asala while Faisali were held 0-0 with Ramtha and next play Asala, while Ahli were held 0-0 with Sarih and next play That Ras. Baqaa beat That Ras 2-0 and are still 11th while Jazira are still sixth after holding Hussein 0-0. 

Ahli’s downing of Faisali 2-1 as the league resumed drew the most attention as they also advanced to the Jordan Cup final after they beat Faisali 1-0 in Leg 1 and drew 0-0 in Leg 2. In the other semifinal, two-time winners Shabab Urdun eliminated Jazira winning 1-0 in Leg 1 and 0-0 in Leg 2 of the semis. 

A long-time veteran and founder of the game in Jordan, Ahli were relegated to Division 1 in 2004 for the first time in their history. They were back among the pro league clubs in 2014, finishing 5th in 2015, and now the team is contending with premier league leaders after they beat Faisali and Shabab Urdun 2-1 and seem in position to aim for the title as well.

So far this season, Jordan Cup holders Faisali beat league titleholder Wihdat 1-0 to win the 33rd Super Cup. Apart from conceding the Super Cup, Wihdat were knockout out of the Jordan Cup as well.

Wihdat have been league champions for the past two consecutive years. Faisali finished at a disappointing 7th place in the league last year as runners-up and third places went to Jazira and Ramtha. 

Standings 
(Previous position in parenthesis)