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AMMAN — Jordan plays Japan on Tuesday in a decisive Group D match at the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup currently under way in Australia.

The 11am Amman local time match is crucial for Jordan who hopes to repeat its quarter-final qualification from 2004 and 2011.

“There has not been an upset at this tournament yet, but there is a first time for everything,” Jordan coach Ray Wilkins told reporters in Australia on Friday.

Few give Jordan a chance though and the tournament’s big guns have progressed with relative ease from the other pools, but former England midfielder Wilkins believes it is time for a surprise Down Under, according to Reuters.

“Our expectations are obviously a game that is going to be extremely tough against a very, very good side,” Wilkins said.

“Japan have a number of very good players but we have prepared ourselves for what will be a very tough game.”

A win will secure Jordan’s qualification as hopes of advancing to the quarters this time still hangs in the balance with the Palestine-Iraq match being played at the same time. Japan leads the group after it beat first-time qualifiers Palestine 4-0 and Iraq 1-0.

“I think obviously it is important that we are still in the game for 55 minutes to an hour,” Wilkins told Reuters.

“If we go gung-ho against the Japanese it could be extremely difficult because they are a very, very good side. We will be cautious and with every opportunity we get to attack them we will attack them.”

Jordan went down 1-0 to Iraq in its opening match, but rebounded with a 5-1 win over Palestine to avoid an early exit when substitute striker Hamza Dardour scored four goals to end an 11-match unbeaten run.

Dardour, who was described as a player with the “strongest pair of legs” by commentators in the AFC, said: “It does not matter who plays, the team’s result is what is important. Japan is a strong team but nothing is impossible.”

Jordan beat Japan 2-1 last year in World Cup qualifiers.

Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1971, this is Jordan’s third time at the Asian Cup finals.

Jordan is now 93rd in the latest FIFA World Rankings while group leaders Japan are 54th, Iraq 114th and Palestine 115th.

Substitute Reza Ghoochannejhad scored an injury-time goal to lift Iran to a 1-0 win over the UAE and top spot in Group C at the Asian Cup on Monday.

Despite a free-flowing game, and a virtuoso performance by the UAE playmaker Omar Abdulrahman, neither side could find a breakthrough until Ghoochannejhad’s late strike helped Asia’s top-ranked team avoid a likely quarter-final showdown with Japan.

The UAE appealed for offside when Ghoochannejhad pounced on a ball that had ricocheted off teammate Andranik Teymourian and directed

 his header into the top corner from close range. However, television replays indicated the striker had just stayed onside.

“The spirit is great in our team, [the] chemistry is amazing,” said Ghoochannejhad. “Right now everybody is happy but we have to focus on our upcoming games.”

Iran will face the runners-up of Group D, likely to be Iraq or Jordan, in the quarter-final at Canberra on Friday, while the UAE will likely face Japan in Sydney.

The UAE had already secured its quarter-final place with wins over Qatar and Bahrain in its first two games, and was unlucky to not get the draw it needed to top the group from Iran on goal difference.

“Sometimes you play good and you lose, but sometimes also you don’t play good and you win,” said the UAE coach Madhi Ali. “We have to forget this game. We lost, but we did not lose the qualification, and now we have to concentrate on our game against Japan.

“We don’t have any problem playing with Japan or any other team.”
The UAE’s chief playmaker Abdulrahman created several chances in the best individual performance of the tournament so far as he frequently skipped past bemused Iranian defenders and picked out teammates with his wide range of passing.

Both teams played with little caution as they looked for the crucial opening goal and the UAE’s Khamis Esmaeel almost delivered it with a powerful long-range strike that went just past the post with Iran goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi beaten in the fifth minute.

Iran quickly recovered from the UAE’s bright start and had a chance to take the lead in the 17th minute but defender Morteza Pouraliganji missed with his headed shot when it seemed easier to score.

Abdulrahman then produced a teasing run from the edge of the box and beat four Iranian defenders before the diminutive midfielder was tackled by Vahid Amiri as he honed in on goal.

Just before half-time Iran’s Azmoun Sardar raced to the backpost to meet a corner kick, which had been flicked on by Teymourian, and his goal-bound header hit the chest of a UAE defender and deflected wide.

The game stretched further in the second half with the UAE’s Ali Mabkhout missing a couple of good chances to add to his three tournament goals so far, including one in 14 seconds against Bahrain.

Iran grew increasingly desperate and coach Carlos Quieroz introduced stars Ashkan Dejagah and Ghoochannejhad late in the second half in search of a breakthrough.

With full time closing in former Charlton Athletic striker Ghoochannejhad popped up to clinch the win for Iran, despite the pleas of the UAE defence for offside.

At Sydney, Sayed Jafaar produced a stunning long-range strike in the 82nd minute to lift Bahrain to a 2-1 victory over Qatar for its first win of the tournament.

Earlier, Sayed Shubber had produced a smart turn and finish past a host of Qatari defenders to score in the 35th minute, before Hasan Al Haydos equalised for Qatar from a free kick in the second half.

It ended a disappointing tournament for 2014 Gulf Cup champions Qatar, which lost all three games to finish bottom of the group.

“When you miss chances, it is due to many things,” said Qatar coach Djamal Belmadi. “It is partly luck, concentration and quality of the player.

“From my experiences as a player, when you create a lot of chances and do not score, you usually lose the game.”

FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali had no intention of running for football’s top job but felt compelled to stand by fellow officials keen for change at the world governing body.

The 39-year-old prince announced his candidacy earlier this month and told Australia’s SBS that it was his love of the sport that will lead to him standing against incumbent Sepp Blatter, seeking a fifth term in office, and Frenchman Jerome Champagne in the May election.

“It’s not ideally something that I wanted to do, but I got a lot of encouragement from many people around the world who really care about the sport, not just from officials but also from players,” Ali said on Friday.

“And so after a lot of thinking and so on I decided, ‘OK, let’s go. Let’s do it’. It’s not something that I want to do for a long time but I really think it’s a duty to all football lovers around the world to bring this organisation back.”

The FIFA vice president and head of the Jordan Football Association and West Asian Football Federation, who has the support of UEFA President Michel Platini, did not reveal any specific election pledges but stressed the need for greater transparency.

He again called for Michael Garcia’s report into the bidding processes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting rights to be made public and hoped it would be done so before the election date.

Big deal

“We made a big deal out of having this investigation in the first place but you cannot do that and then shut the door,” he said.

“Again, with Mark Pieth, for example, we brought him in to look at how to reform the organisation [in 2011]. He made these recommendations and they were not implemented and I think that’s extremely wrong. Why would we do that in the first place?”

The British and American educated prince, who acknowledged the support of his wife and two young children in standing, said he thought FIFA’s recovery after a scandal-hit period where several members had been punished for corruption would be far swifter under his guidance.

“I think that change is inevitable but I’m here to work for a positive change and to really get back to the basics and to use FIFA in a positive way.

“If I’m elected I’m going to have a real programme where we really roll our sleeves up — a 10-year programme for the organisation where everybody is a part of it and ourselves, as the executive, we’re there to implement that programme.

“I’m looking for an outcome where everybody can have confidence, from our players to our fans and all the way to sponsors and we deserve it. All football fans across the world deserve that as well.”

MELBOURNE — Uzbekistan beat Saudi Arabia 3-1 on Sunday to leapfrog its opponents and advance to the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup as runners-up of Group B.

Attacking midfielder Sardor Rashidov, one of the five players brought in to the starting line-up after Uzbekistan lost to China on Wednesday, scored twice while substitute Vokhid Shodiyev also netted.

Saudi Arabia, who would have advanced to the knockout phase with a win or a draw, drew level at 1-1 when Mohammed Al Sahlawi converted a penalty in the 60th minute but the Green Falcons bowed out of the tournament by giving up two late goals.

Uzbekistan, semifinalists at the last Asian Cup in 2011, will play Group A winners South Korea in Melbourne on Thursday, with the coach of the Central Asian team saying there would be a “a big holiday in Uzbekistan now”.

“It was one of the great winning games,” Mirdjalal Kasimov told reporters. “It was great because our players, they have done everything.”

China, who topped the Group B standings with three wins, faces the host-nation Australia in Brisbane the same night.

China was already assured of top spot after upsetting Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan and finished the group stage with a 2-1 win over North Korea in Canberra on Sunday in a match played simultaneously as the Melbourne fixture.

With North Korea out of contention, the match was effectively a dead rubber but China coach Alain Perrin resisted the temptation to rest all of his best players, saying it was more important to continue building momentum.

“Australia as the host team will be very difficult for us,” Perrin said. “But we’ve got a new record for Chinese football — we’ve got nine points.”

Right-winger Sun Ke, who came on as a substitute and scored the winner in China’s 2-1 victory over Uzbekistan, celebrated his promotion to the starting side by scoring both his teams goals in the first half.

He netted the first in the opening minute then his second three minutes before the interval. China gave one back when Gao Lin in the second half but held on for the win.

“Our matches were not satisfactory,” North Korean coach Jo Tongsop said. “I think this is a very valuable experience for the whole team.”

Rashidov scored Uzbekistan’s opening goal within 90 seconds of the start, firing the ball through the legs of Saudi goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah.

Saudi Arabia, who won the last of its three Asian Cup titles in 1996, levelled after the break with a hotly disputed penalty when Vitaliy Denisov and Naif Hazazi got tangled up and fell as a cross was coming in.

But Shodiev came off the bench and restored the White Wolves’ lead in the 72nd minute with a header before Rashidov banged in his second 11 minutes from time.

“It’s disappointing for me, for everyone,” Saudi Arabia coach Cosmin Olaroiuhe said. “When you make mistakes like we did today sometimes you pay a price and the price was qualification.”

BRISBANE, Australia — There was more at stake for Ki Sung-yueng than just top spot in the group, and it was evident in his man-of-the-match performance in guiding South Korea to a 1-0 win over Australia at the Asian Cup on Saturday.

Ki, who spent four years living in Brisbane, played a role in the only goal in the contest for Group A supremacy. The South Korea captain played the ball into the area for Lee Keun-ho, who steered a left-foot cross towards the far post and Lee Jeong-hyeop finished with a sliding touch to beat Mat Ryan in the 32nd minute.

The Australians had almost two-thirds of possession and twice as many shots on goal, but two-time champion South Korea took full advantage of its first genuine chance.

“I was desperate to win. I wanted to go first of the group,” Ki said, adding that the “game was for pride” between two of Asia’s top teams.

South Korea won all three group games 1-0, upending an Australian squad that had an 8-1 goal differential going into the group decider. The Australians now face a quarter-final against China on Thursday, while the South Koreans must wait to see who wins on Sunday between 2011 semifinalist Uzbekistan and three-time champion Saudi Arabia.

“We won three games, but I think we start now from the quarter-final,” Ki said. “Our target is to be the champion.”

Australia coach Ange Postecoglou was missing injured captain Mile Jedinak, and also kept key attackers Tim Cahill, Robbie Kruse and Mathew Leckie on the bench to start.

“We had the opportunities, we just didn’t take them,” he said. “We obviously conceded a pretty poor goal from us — we switched off.

“While the result didn’t go our way, we kind of dominated the game for major parts and created opportunities. Ultimately, they got the reward and the result. From a football performance perspective, though, there’s still positives.”

Oman finished third in Group A, picking up its first win from Abdulaziz Al Maqbali’s 69th-minute header in a 1-0 victory over Kuwait in Newcastle.

Postecoglou complained about the surface of the pitch in Brisbane, saying it prevented a slick, attacking game. And South Korea coach Uli Stielike said the pitch had the feel of a surface recently roughed up by rugby. But the 2011 finalists will have to adapt quickly, needing to beat China at the same venue to move into a semifinal at Newcastle on January 27 — quite possibly against defending champion Japan.

The Australians lacked a finishing touch, particularly in the first half, when Tomi Juric and Nathan Burns both had shots on goal.

Australia went close to getting a first-half equaliser when James Troisi pivoted, turned and shot into the side-netting in the 34th minute. The stadium screen wrongly flashed up a goal, bringing a roar from the 48,513-crowd which was packed with fans in gold jerseys except for a large pocket of Korean fans behind the southern goal. But the equaliser never came.

Kruse had a chance for a late equaliser when he was one-on-one with Kim in the 88th minute, but the Korean goalkeeper made a desperate save from close range to preserve the lead.

In a seesawing finish as players from both teams struggled in the hot and humid conditions, Jang Hyun-soo missed a chance to make it 2-0 on a counterattack in stoppage time when his effort was well blocked by Ryan.

AMMAN  — Jordan avoided an early Asian Cup exit at the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup currently under way in Australia when substitute striker Hamza Dardour helped “Al Nashama” finally win, scoring four goals in Jordan’s 5-1 win over Palestine on Friday.

Dardour, who ended Jordan’s miserable run of 11 games without a win, became only the fourth player in AFC Asian Cup history to score four goals in a single game as two-time quarter-finalists Jordan kept its knockout stage hopes alive after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Iraq in Group D.

Jordan’s hopes of advancing to the quarters this time still hang in the balance. The team will play Japan on Tuesday, while Iraq plays Palestine. Japan leads the group after it beat first time qualifiers Palestine 4-0 and Iraq 1-0. 

Coach Ray Wilkins acknowledged Dardour was his third choice striker, after Ahmad Hayel, who was given a rest after a botched doping test, and Oday Saifi. Hayel will most likely be ready to go back to the pitch by the next match, and Wilkins will need to decide his line-up. 

“He’s got blistering pace and when he’s in front of goal he’ll stick it in the back of the net. He’s very composed in front of goal. His pace will scare people,” Wilkins said of the new star.

Dardour, who is on loan to Saudi Arabia’s Al Khaleej from Jordan’s Ramtha, credited former coach Adnan Hamad for shifting him from wing to striker.

Australia’s Herald Sun quoted Dardour as saying: “Jordan will draw inspiration from their World Cup qualifying win over Japan in March 2013 ahead of their crucial clash. Nothing is impossible, Japan is big team, but we can beat them and qualify.”

“We beat them in World Cup qualifiers so we can do it. This will be a final for us. It feels great, really fortunate to score a super hat-trick,” Dardour added.

Jordan opened scoring with Yousef Ahmad’s strike 12 minutes before half-time at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. Dardour, who did not play in the first match, went on to score two more before half-time and netted in two more aided by teammate Abdullah Theeb to end the winless streak for Jordan.

There was, though, still time for AFC Challenge Cup 2014 winners Palestine to net its first AFC Asian Cup goal to end the match 5-1. 

Dardour tops the scorers list for now and joined Iranian duo Behtash Fariba and Ali Daei, and Bahrain’s Ismail Abdullatif on the list of players to score four goals at the AFC Asian Cup.

Group D standings

Bahrain’s Abdulwahab Ali Al Safi (back) tackles UAE’s Omar Abdulrahman during their Asian Cup Group C match at the Canberra Stadium in Canberra on Thursday (Reuters photo by Tim Wimborne)

CANBERRA — Ali Ahmed Mabkhout needed just 14 seconds to put the United Arab Emirates ahead as his team went on to beat Bahrain 2-1 on Thursday and secure a rare Asian Cup quarter-finals appearance.

With the Group C encounter meandering towards a 1-1 draw, Bahraini captain Mohamed Hasan deflected a 73rd minute free-kick from Amer Abdulrahman into his own net to hand the UAE a second Gulf derby victory in Canberra following its opening 4-1 win over Qatar.

The UAE and Iran, who beat Qatar 1-0 in Sydney, top the pool on six points and are through to the last eight, with Bahrain and the Gulf Cup champions eliminated with a game to spare.

It is just the third time the UAE has made the quarter-finals and first since 1996.

“This team brings a lot of joy to our UAE nationals and the people are happy and proud,” UAE coach Mahdi Ali told reporters.

“This win will help relax us a bit with regards the pressure against Iran and we will try to go again with the same mentality.”

The Emiratis again looked most dangerous going forward, with their attacking quartet needing a matter of seconds to slice through a leaky Bahraini backline for Mabkhout to notch up his third goal of the tournament.

A neat lofted ball by Omar Abulrahman over the head of Bahraini defender Mohamed Duaij allowed Mabkhout to steal in and finish low under goalkeeper Sayed Mohamed Abbas to notch one of the fastest goals ever scored in the Asian Cup.

The UAE came close to adding a second in the 16th minute when some trickery down the right by Mohamed Abdulrahman led to a cross for Ahmed Khalil but the striker could only cannon a shot against the post.

While the UAE attack were purring, its defence lacked the same dominance and struggled to contain the impressive Jaycee John Okwunwanne, who was causing numerous problems in an entertaining first half.

The Nigerian-born striker headed the Bahrainis level in the 26th minute, rising above Hamdan Al Kamali to meet Faouzi Aaish’s inswinging corner.

Okwunwanne came close to adding a second in the 29th minute when a Bahraini counter led to Rashed Al Hooti crossing from the left but the striker’s header was pushed behind by Majed Naser in the UAE goal.

Omar Abulrahman’s curling free kick just skimmed the top of the crossbar in the best chance of the half minutes before Hasan’s unfortunate own goal decided the contest.

Meanwhile, Japan will take a call on the future of coach Javier Aguirre, currently embroiled in a match-fixing scandal, after the team’s Asian Cup campaign, the country’s football association said on Thursday.

Spain’s anti-corruption prosecutor has named the Mexican in a probe into Aguirre’s Real Zaragoza’s win at Levante on the final day of the 2010/11 La Liga campaign to avoid relegation.

Aguirre has long denied any involvement in match-fixing and has refused to elaborate on his role as the scandal overshadows Japan’s title defence in Australia.

“We would like to prioritise the Japan national team during the Asian Cup, so while the Asian Cup goes on, we’d like to keep this issue under wraps and would like your cooperation on this,” Japan Football Association Chairman Kuniya Daini told a news conference.

AMMAN — The national team plays Palestine on Friday in its second Group D match at the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup currently under way in Australia.

The teams will play in Melbourne at 9am Amman local time after both sides lost their opening matches. Jordan lost 1-0 to Iraq while Palestine, playing their first Asian Cup, went down 4-0 to titleholders Japan.

According to Jordan coach Ray Wilkins, the match against Challenge Cup champs Palestine will witness changes in the line-up. 

“We have good strikers who have to make use of each opportunity in such high level matches. Otherwise your opponents will score. This is what we need to address,” Wilkins said.

Jordan will miss the efforts of Anas Bani Yasin, who was booked last match, and Ahmad Hayel, who has been unwell after a random test for performance enhancing drugs which followed the last match. 

Wilkins said Hayel was  also doubtful for the third and final clash against Japan.

“I think the important thing, you must always put football in perspective,” former England international Wilkins told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.

“But people are more important. He lost so much fluid the other night when he played and we were very, very concerned as to his well-being. He is now okay,” he told Reuters.

While the Jordan Football Association filed a complaint with the AFC on procedures which led to the players’ “general weakness, and hypothermia”, during the four-hour procedure, the AFC defended the anti-doping procedure and said the player should not have consumed so much water.

Wilkins said he had not received any response to the team’s complaint from the AFC. The governing body declined comment on the matter when contacted by Reuters.

“I’ve not spoken to anybody, which I expect,” the 58-year-old said. “It’s a big competition, they’ve got lots of things to consider but the most important thing in their consideration must be the person and not what’s going on here.”

Four-time winner Japan is the clear contender to take the group’s top qualifying spot and possibly win the Cup, while Jordan’s hopes on taking the second qualifying spot from the group now rests upon winning the upcoming match and hoping 2011 champs Iraq loses its match.

MELBOURNE — Striker Ahmad Hayel was mistreated during a doping test following the 1-0 loss to Iraq in the Asian Cup on Monday, the Jordan Football Association (JFA) said on Wednesday.

Hayel arrived back at the team hotel “suffering from semi-coma, general weakness, and hypothermia”, the JFA said in a statement, adding they had filed a complaint to the Asian Football Confederation.

The 30-year-old “tired” player vomited in the doping room, which was too cold, and failed to complete the test after playing the full 90 minutes in the Iraq loss, the JFA said.

Citing evidence from their medical officer who accompanied Hayel, the JFA added the player and was only given water to drink, “without salts or electrolytes” in the four hours he spent waiting to give a sample.

“He was in a semi-coma status suffering low blood pressure, and at the end the player was sent to the hotel by a car and not with an ambulance and carried to a wheelchair while he was unconscious,” the JFA said.

The AFC defended the anti-doping procedure and said the player should not have consumed so much water.

“The AFC Medical Officer always recommends players selected for doping control to drink water as per normal practice, especially for the player who has played for 90 minutes,” said doctor Paisal Chantarapitak who attempted to conduct the test.

“It is at the player’s discretion to follow the recommendation or not. The player is not forced to drink plenty of water in short time.”

The AFC added that the doctor decided to cancel the test after Hayel experienced “some dizziness, felt nausea and vomited after his second attempt, which was an hour after his first”.

Earlier, a JFA spokesman said Hayel had been ruled out of Friday’s Group D match against Palestine in Melbourne after the “cancelled” doping test but the player could yet feature.

“Due to the previously mentioned conditions that resulted in Hayel’s bad health condition and the lack of medical care at the doping room, the player might be unable to play Jordan’s next match against Palestine,” the body said.

Experienced striker Hayel has represented his country more than 60 times and plays his club football in Kuwait with Al Arabi.

FIFA presidential candidate HRH Prince Ali, president of the JFA, wished Hayel a speedy recovery, the body said.

BRISBANE, Australia — China coach Alain Perrin was thinking about uncorking some champagne as his players celebrated with raucous singing and high-fives after clinching a spot in the Asian Cup quarter-finals.

Wu Xi and Sun Ke scored second-half goals to propel China to a 2-1 comeback win over 2011 semifinalist Uzbekistan on Wednesday, ensuring top spot in Group B and a January 22 quarter-final match against either Australia or South Korea.

There’s still the matter of a remaining group match against winless North Korea on Sunday in Canberra, but with wins over Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan already, Perrin decided it was OK to celebrate China’s first run to the knockout stage since it hosted the continental tournament in 2004.

Perrin said he’d open two bottles of good champagne back at the team hotel, adding that the coaching and staff had celebrated the opening win and now he’d invite the players.

“We played a very beautiful match,” the Frenchman said. “Now we can move to the knockout stage in the first ranking of the group. It’s fantastic.”

Australia and South Korea, each with six points from two wins, will meet on Saturday to determine top spot in Group A. Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia will play in Melbourne on Sunday to decide which team goes through from Group B with China. Both teams have three points from wins over North Korea.

The North Koreans are already out of contention following the 4-1 loss to the Saudis in Melbourne, where a small but vocal group chanted the name of Kim Jong Un during the match.

Ryang Yong Gi gave North Korea the lead in the 11th minute when he swooped on a failed clearance from Saudi goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah — his country’s first goal in the Asian Cup since 1992 — but Naif Hazazi equalised before halftime and Mohammed Al Sahlawi scored twice in as many minutes to make it 3-1 in the 54th. Nawaf Al Abid added the fourth goal after Ri Yong Jik was sent off in the 77th minute for an intentional handball.

“I’m happy we won the game and also we had a good performance,” Saudi Arabia coach Cosmin Olaroiu said. “Now we have to forget it quickly to prepare for the game against Uzbekistan.”

After weathering China’s early attacking raids, Uzbekistan seized its first real opportunity when Odil Ahmedov’s strike from 25 yards deflected off Wu and looped inside the far past. Uzbekistan appeared to be in control until holes opened up in the defence after halftime.

Wu made amends when he equalised 10 minutes into the second half and Sun, who went on in the 66th minutes, made an angled run from the left two minutes later and struck from the edge of the area.

Uzbekistan coach Mirdjalal Kasimov said his squad needed to regroup quickly ahead of the last group match, and suggested changes were possible after he started with the same 11 for consecutive matches.

Iran and the United Arab Emirates have three points each and will be aiming to qualify from Group C with wins on Thursday. Iran takes on Gulf Cup champion Qatar in Sydney and the UAE plays Bahrain in Canberra.