Jordan prepares for Asian Cup

AMMAN — Jordan’s national team continues training “down under” before heading to Brisbane on Thursday to prepare for the kick off of the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) 2015 Asian Cup on January 9.

Jordan lost three consecutive friendlies in the past 10 days — 1-0 to Bahrain and the UAE and 2-1 to Uzbekistan — casting much doubt as to the competitive readiness of the Jordanian squad who will play in Group D against Iraq, Palestine and Japan. The defeats were compounded with the injury of star goalie Amer Shafie in the second friendly.

“We are prepared and hope for some luck as well,” head coach Ray Wilkins said after the Bahrain match. “Of course we were aiming for a win, and we played well, but couldn’t score. We hope to keep fans happy in the official matches,” he added.

Under Wilkins, Jordan lost six matches and drew one. It clearly has caused some uneasiness for the coach, players, fans and officials alike.

Four-time titleholders Japan is the clear contender to lead the group and possibly win the cup, with the second qualifying spot from the group resting upon Jordan’s opening match against 2011 champs Iraq.

A total of 16 teams are set to compete in the Asian Cup this year with matches set to be played in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle.

Teams include:

Group A: Australia, South Korea, Oman and Kuwait.

Group B: Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, China and North Korea.

Group C: Iran, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.

Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972, this will be Jordan’s third time at the Asian Cup finals — twice reaching the quarter-finals in 2004 and 2011.

Jordan went up five spots to 81st in the latest FIFA Rankings after dropping 12 places the month before. Jordan last played Estonia and South Korea, losing 1-0 to both teams. Earlier, they hosted Kuwait in two matches, losing 1-0 and tying 1-1. They held China 1-1, and lost to Uzbekistan 2-0 and Columbia 3-0.