That Ras, Shabab Urdun to play Bahraini, Omani teams

AMMAN — Shabab Urdun host Bahrain’s Rifaa on Tuesday while That Ras play Oman’s Suweiq on Wednesday in the last matches of Round 1 of the 2014 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup 4.

That Ras have already booked a spot in Round of 16 of the competition after holding group leaders Lebanon’s Safaa 0-0 to finish second in Group A. The Jordan Cup holders beat Tajikistan’s  Ravshan 5-1  and 3-2, lost to Safaa 1-0 and scored a 1-0 win over Oman’s Suweiq.

Shabab Urdun’s inconsistent form in the Jordan Professional League has reflected on matches in the Asian scene as well. After losing 3-2 to group leaders Iraq’s Erbil last week they finished third in Group D. Their wins came over last placed Kyrgyzstan’s Alay Osh 1-0  and 2-1. Shabab Urdun lost 2-0 to Bahrain’s Rifaa and went down 3-1 to Erbil.

That Ras, a virtually unknown team to the sports scene in Jordan up till less than nine years ago, are now third in the league behind Wihdat and Faisali.

That Ras beat Wihdat 1-0 in the Jordan Cup and coach Ahmad Abdul Qader noted his team was aiming to advance further in the AFC Cup. 

“We are aiming to come back with a win from our match in Muscat,” he underlined, adding his team had a good season “thanks to the club management, fans and the relentless efforts of the squad”.

Shabab Urdun won the second-tier Asian club competition in 2007 and last year won the league title for the second time. However, they had an inconsistent form and are now 7th in the league. This season, Shabab Urdun were eliminated by Bahrain’s Al Hidd in the preliminary round of the AFC Champions League.

They also lost to Al Hidd in Round 1 of the Arab Football Association Clubs Cup.

The 11th edition of the AFC Cup includes 32 clubs from across the continent competing in eight groups with the top two in each group going on to the Round of 16.