Sports

AMMAN — Jordan dropped 8 spots to 99th in the latest FIFA World Rankings issued on Thursday as the team readies to host Iraq on Saturday.

Argentina leads the top 10, followed by Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Columbia, Spain, Brazil, Wales, Chile and England. 

Jordan is 10th in Asia trailing leaders Iran, who are followed by South Korea, Japan, Australia, the UAE, Uzbekistan, China, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Jordan is readying to play Asian champs Australia on October 8 in its fourth Group B qualifier of the 2018 World Cup in Russia doubling as part of the qualification for 2019 Asian Cup. Forty teams are playing home and away in a round-robin format in the current second qualifying round which runs until March 2016. 

Jordan beat Bangladesh 4-0 after a disappointing 0-0 draw with  155th ranked Kyrgyzstan and an opening 3-1 win over Tajikistan. Australia led the group after it beat Tajikistan 3-0, Bangladesh 5-0 and Kyrgyzstan 2-1. Bangladesh held Tajikistan 1-1 after it lost to Kyrgyzstan 3-1.

In the Asian Cup, Jordan reached the championship three times since first taking part in qualifiers in 1972. 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. In 2011, Jordan again reached the quarter-finals.

Arsenal and Chelsea had a Champions League night to forget on Tuesday as a Robert Lewandowski hat trick helped Bayern Munich crush Dinamo Zagreb.

And champions Barcelona, with injured icon Lionel Messi watching from the stands, followed up their opening Group E draw at Roma with a stirring come-from-behind 2-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen.

The Germans appeared to have the three points in the bag after Kyriakos Papadopoulos’ header before the break.

But Luis Suarez turned the game around in the final 10 minutes as Sergi Roberto tapped home the rebound after the Uruguayan’s initial effort had been saved.

And the former Liverpool striker thumped home a stunning effort to hand Barca a hard-fought three points, two minutes later.

“We couldn’t play great football, but we had to win the game. We had to show we are the champions,” said Suarez.

There was a sting in the tail as captain Andres Iniesta hobbled off after an hour.

With Roma sent on their way 3-2 by BATE Borisov it left Barca shading Group E.

Jose Mourinho’s return to Porto, the team who the Portuguese guided to the 2004 title, proved an unhappy affair.

Andre Andre’s opener for Porto late in the first half was quickly cancelled out by a superb Willian free-kick, but Maicon’s 52nd-minute header proved to be the difference in this Group G clash played at a rip-roaring pace.

Dynamo Kiev, 2-0 winners over Maccabi Tel Aviv, top the table on goal difference with Chelsea in third.

It was a good performance with two ridiculous mistakes,” said Mourinho.

Stunning result

“The second goal is a really bad mistake. We watch dozens of repetitions of Porto taking corners. I thought we were completely ready for that.

“But apart from that it was a balanced performance. The defenders played well and had no problems, but two ridiculous mistakes and we were punished.”

Arguably the most stunning result of the evening emerged from the Emirates Stadium, where Greek champions Olympiakos shocked Arsenal 3-2 to leave the Gunners stone last in Group F.

The Greeks, ending a 12-match losing run in England, left pointless Arsenal and their Coach Arsene Wenger ashen-faced, and the team’s fans jeering at the final whistle.

After falling behind to Felipe Pardo’s deflected opener, Arsenal equalised through Theo Walcott.

But then a horrendous mistake from goalkeeper David Ospina, selected over regular first choice Petr Cech, allowed a Kostas Fortounis corner to slip through his grasp for an embarrassing own goal.

Alexis Sanchez dragged Arsenal back into it with a second half equaliser, but incredibly the north Londoners imploded again with more slack defending gifting Iceland striker Alfred Finnbogason the winner.

“It is still possible to qualify but it is difficult to swallow losing a game like that,” Wenger said.

“We lost it on a lack of defensive concentration and bad luck. They had four shots on goal and we conceded three goals.

“A goalkeeper [Ospina] can make a mistake. That doesn’t explain that we lose the game. It happened to Petr Cech already this season.”

Beaten in the group curtain raiser in Zagreb Arsenal are now up against it to extricate themselves from the pool stages.

To compound their plight free-shooting Bayern Munich await, the German giants flexing their muscles against  Zagreb.

Bayern top the table, Pep Guardiola’s side cruising towards the knockout stages after Lewandowski’s treble, and goals from Douglas Costa and Mario Goetze steamrollered Dinamo Zagreb 5-0.

“We played in a very concentrated fashion from the start and when you take your goal chances, the game was over after 30 minutes,” said Bayern captain Philipp Lahm.

Poland hot-shot Lewandowski has now scored 10 goals in his last three games after netting five in just nine spectacular minutes of Bayern’s 5-1 hammering of Wolfsburg last Tuesday before claiming two more in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Mainz.

“He’s had an unbelievable week behind him,” admitted Lahm.

Elsewhere, Zenit St Petersburg remained unbeaten with a 2-1 home win over Belgian outfit Gent to top Group H from Valencia, 1-0 winners at Lyon.

AMMAN — Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah heads up a quality field of drivers for the sixth round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship which will be held in Jordan from October 15-17, according to a statement from the Jordan Rally Media Service.

Attiyah, who leads the championship standings and can secure his 11th drivers title at the Jordan Rally, is one of five drivers travelling in from Qatar.

His strongest challenger is likely to be Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi with Abdulaziz Al Kuwari ranked third following his excellent third place finish at the Cyprus Rally last week.

Jordan has a strong contingent of drivers with 2015 National Rally Champion Maruf Abu Samra and the Husam Salem hoping to put pressure on the podium places. The Jordan Rally gets underway on the afternoon of October 15 with a spectator event on the streets of Abdoun.

Following the launch event, the region’s top drivers will take on 20 timed special stages held over two days — Friday and Saturday — through the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas.

AMMAN — Jordanian trail runner Salameh Al Aqra is expected to participate in the 100km Ultra-Trail Cape Town race on Saturday in South Africa.

No less than 26 different nationalities have signed up for the race. “I am looking forward to my debut run in South Africa,” Aqra was quoted as saying on the events website.

“And I will be lining up to win the 100km challenge,” he concluded.

AMMAN — The U-23 national men’s team beat Yemen 3-1 in their opening match at the West Asian Championship that kicked off in Doha on Wednesday.

The team left Amman over the Eid holiday to play the inaugural event in Group A alongside hosts Qatar, Palestine and Yemen. Iran, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain will play in Group B while the UAE, Oman and Syria are in Group C. The Kingdom will next play Qatar on October 3.

AMMAN – Jordan’s national basketball squad on Tuesday lost to Lebanon 80-76 in Round 2 Group F action of the FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, China, which qualifies the winner to represent Asia at the 2016 Summer Olympics basketball tournament.

The Kingdom dug in and shaved points off the deficit until the very end, closing the gap to just three points. But it came up a couple of plays short of completing the comeback.

Though Lebanon had the wind in its sails and a big lead early in the second half, it almost saw the advantage evaporate. Jordan’s Mohammad Abdeen hit a three-pointer with 3:03 left in the contest to cut the deficit to 75-70. Jordan got the ball back after and could have pulled to within three but Alex Legion was off target with a jumper.

According to fiba.com, Jordan hit a drought from long range, making just 4 of 21 (19 per cent) while Lebanon was far more impressive 10 of 25 (40 per cent). 

In the end, Jordan dug its a huge hole that it simply could not climb out of against a Lebanese team that showed great mental fortitude after suffering heavy defeats to Korea and China, according to fiba.com. Lebanon is expected to be extremely dangerous opponent for the Philippines on Thursday.

Jordan, which is coached by former Philippine national men’s basketball team coach, Rajko Toroman, bowed out of the tournament with the loss. 

Jordan played the preliminary round in Group C losing to South Korea (87-60), beating Singapore (98-68) and losing to China 84-67.

In Round 2 the team joined the top three from Group D: Lebanon, Kazakhstan and Qatar. Jordan beat had earlier beaten Qatar (84-73) and Kazakhstan (87-73).

The Kingdom clinched a qualifying spot to the tournament when it came in runner-up at the West Asian Basketball Association (WABA) Championship earlier this summer.

It is the Kingdom’s 9th time at the Asian Basketball Championship for 2002 and 2014 West Asia champ Jordan. The country’s best performance at FIBA Asia was in 2011, where for the first time in history, Jordan reached the final but lost the chance to qualify to the 2012 Olympic Games after losing the game 70-69 to China and settling for runner-up. 

Jordan then played at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) for Men, but lost to Puerto Rico and Greece and was eliminated. The OQT gave Asia’s second and third teams a chance to qualify to the London Games basketball event. 

Although the men’s basketball team reached the 2010 World Championship — and was the only Jordanian team to actually reach a world championship in a team sport alongside the junior team in 1995 — official support for Jordan’s second most popular sport is seen as below par by most observers, leading to a decline in the game locally and a less competitive advantage on the regional scene.

AMMAN – The organising committee of the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will focus on the promotional side of the event to further engage football fans, organising committee CEO Samar Nassar said on Tuesday.

Jordan is the first Arab country to host such a prestigious competition, slated to start on September 30, 2016.

"During the previous stage, we focused on infrastructure; now we are going to highlight the promotional side. We will hold a number of activities in the Kingdom's hosting cities," Nassar told reporters during a press conference held at the Jordan Football Association on Tuesday.

Nassar said the competition’s motto is "Jordan is our stadium", to show that the country is ready to host this important contest.

FIFA representative Tatjana Haenni said work was on track.

"We are on the way to finalise contracts with hotels to provide participating teams, FIFA delegations and referees with accommodations," she told the attendees.

The event is going to benefit the Kingdom in more than one way. Besides putting Jordan on the sports, map, for hosting such an important competition, it will also highlight the peaceful atmosphere and bring economic benefits.

President of the organising committee Salah Sabra said the championship will establish a precedent and leave an impressive legacy, so a few understandable setbacks have to be accepted.

"Although the Amman International Stadium will be closed for a while for maintenance, which might negatively affect some clubs, the country as a whole will enjoy this and other high-standard stadiums in the future. Without this competition we would have never had the chance to rehabilitate these facilities," said Sabra.

The Kingdom has to finish the infrastructure for the matches six months ahead of the beginning of the competition. Sabra is optimistic that the work will be done eight months before the beginning of the tournament.

During the championship, over the course of 22 days, a total of 16 teams will play 32 matches on four stadiums, which will be located in Amman, Irbid and Zarqa.

The Amman International Stadium, in Al Hussein Youth Sports City, has a capacity of 13,000. It is few minutes away from Amman’s main hotel districts.

The King Abdullah International Stadium, located at King Abdullah II Sports City in Qweismeh, has a capacity of 12,000 and is equally conveniently set vis-à-vis Amman’s hotel areas.

Irbid's Prince Al Hassan Stadium, located at Al Hassan Sports City, 88 kilometres north of Amman, has a capacity of 12,000.

Prince Mohammad Stadium, in Zarqa, can accommodate 12,000 spectators and is 33 kilometres northeast of Amman.

AMMAN – Jordan defeated Kazakhstan 87-73 on Monday in the FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, China. 

The national basketball team will play West Asia Basketball Association (WABA) rivals Lebanon on Tuesday, a fixture described by FIBA as a do-or-die game as each team needs to win in order to qualify for the quarter-finals. 

According to FIBA, Alex Legion had 23 points and five assists while Zaid Abbas finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and four steals for the Jordanians.

Kazakhstan got another solid showing from Jerry Johnson but the point guard's game-high 26 points were not enough to prevent the side from enduring a fourth defeat in five FIBA Asia Championship games.

Its 0-3 record in Group F means the Kazakhs have no chance of advancing to the next stage of the competition, even if it was to beat Korea on Tuesday, FIBA reported on its website.

Kazakhstan fought Jordan hard but began to lose the initiative late in the first half. Trailing 38-35 after a Johnson three-pointer, Vitaliy Strebkov's team fell further behind after jump shots from Sam Daghlas and Ali Jamal Zaghab, and two free-throws from Daghlas. The Kazakhs got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

The FIBA described Abbas as the game hero, saying he did a little bit of everything on both ends of the floor to help Jordan win with the team 14 points better than Kazakhstan when he was on the court.

On Sunday, Jordan defeated Qatar, 84-73. 

AMMAN — Qatar rally legend Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah can clinch his 11th Middle East Rally Championship title in 13 years when the series moves to Jordan for round six from October 15-17, according to a statement from the Jordan Rally Media Service.

Attiyah stepped closer to the crown after an exhilarating Cyprus Rally that he won for the fourth time by the narrowest of margins from one of Europe’s leading drivers.

With just 1.3 seconds separating Attiyah and Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz heading into the 16th and final 13km stage, the Qatari held on to record his 58th MERC victory and another maximum points haul. Kajetanowicz had led from the third to the start of the 15th stage but eventually lost out by just seven seconds.

Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al Kuwari finished third.

“Nasser has shown once again this year what a fantastic competitor he is so we are looking forward to seeing him coming to Jordan along with the region’s other top drivers,” said Othman Nassif, CEO of Jordan Motorsport, which organises the Jordan Rally.

“For sure, he won’t have it all his own way but he has won our event on a number of occasions and will be tough to beat. It makes for a very interesting event here in a few weeks time.”

Attiyah now leads the championship by 49 points from the UAE’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi. Victory in Jordan would give him an unassailable lead at the top with two round left in Oman and Dubai.

The Jordan Rally gets under way with a special spectator event on October 15, followed by two days of action based out of the Dead Sea Service Park.

BARCELONA — Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is expected to be out for up to two months after suffering a knee injury in their La Liga victory over Las Palmas on Saturday, the club said in a statement.

The Argentine picked up the injury in a clash of legs with Daniel Castellano after three minutes and tried to continue but was substituted six minutes later.

“Tests have confirmed that Leo Messi has torn the internal collateral ligament of his left knee,” Barcelona said in a statement.

“The estimated time that he will be absent is around seven or eight weeks.”

Barca went on to win 2-1 with a double from Luis Suarez, but midfielder Sergio Busquets said losing Messi was a big blow.

Villarreal top

Villarreal went top with a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday after a toothless Real Madrid were held 0-0 at home to 10-man Malaga.

Villarreal’s victory came courtesy of a goal from Leo Baptistao, who finished clinically having been found by Roberto Soldado inside the area after 14 minutes to secure their fifth straight win.

The best chances for a below-par Atletico fell to Antoine Griezmann at the end of each half, but he was denied by Villarreal keeper Alphonse Areola.

Villarreal are surprise leaders with 16 points from six games, a point more than Barca and two ahead of Real.

Iago Aspas grabbed a 76th-minute equaliser to give fourth-placed Celta Vigo a 1-1 draw at Eibar.

Barca, who were looking to rebound from a 4-1 hammering by Celta Vigo on Wednesday, lost Messi after just nine minutes following a clash of legs.

The Argentine, who was in the process of shooting, collided with Daniel Castellano after three minutes.

He tried to continue but was eventually forced off the pitch, with the club later confirming that tests had shown he had suffered knee ligament damage.

Best player

“He [Messi] is the best player in the world, our best player and the most dangerous so we are going to notice this,” midfielder Sergio Busquets told reporters.

“We are having a lot of bad luck with injuries and particularly now when we cannot sign players.”

Suarez gave Barca the breakthrough with a powerful header into the corner from a Sergi Roberto cross after 25 minutes.

The tension was taken out of the game when Suarez doubled his tally, cracking the ball into the roof of the net from 12 metres after Munir El Haddadi crossed from the right and Busquets left the ball for the former Liverpool striker to finish.

Neymar blazed a penalty over the crossbar, following a handball by Antolin Alcaraz, after 66 minutes and Las Palmas pulled a goal back with a deflected Jonathan Viera strike two minutes from fulltime.

Real pushed forward from the start in their match against Malaga, but a combination of fine goalkeeping from Carlos Kameni and near misses prevented them from breaking the deadlock.

Malaga’s most dangerous player Nordin Amrabat was sent off for elbowing Marcelo after 76 minutes, but Real could not find a way through, and it was a frustrating match for Cristiano Ronaldo and his fellow forwards.

“We are angry because we could have won and didn’t,” Real keeper Keylor Navas told reporters.

“There’s a long way to go, we will try not to lose more and achieve our objectives.”

Isco, who was lively for Real and stretched the Malaga defence, had the best chance of the first half when he volleyed a deep Marcelo cross just wide of the post.

Kameni was a rock at the back making a series of saves including a block from a Ronaldo volley after the break that left the Portuguese looking skywards.