Sports

AMMAN — The 13th week of the 68th Jordan Professional Football League (Pro League) starts on Thursday with all teams having to refocus on wins as standings at both ends of the table start to crystallise.

Players rejoined their lineups after returning from the national team’s training camp in Dubai this week during which Jordan beat Syria 1-0 and held Iraq 0-0 as it gets ready to resume qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Qatar and 2023 Asian Cup in China.

The league is led by Wihdat after beating Ahli 2-0 for their 10th win. They next face Salt who are fifth after holding Ma’an 0-0. Jazira, who came from behind in the first round, are now in second place, just like the past two seasons, when they were favourites to win or be in the runner-up post. They beat Hussein 2-1 and next play Sahab who dropped to 20th after holding Aqaba 0-0. 

Ramtha climbed to 3rd place after they scored an important 3-1 win over Faisali. They next play Ahli who are bottom of the table and need to start winning to move out of the relegation zone.

Hussein play Sarih who are now 8th after losing to Shabab Urdun 4-1. The latter is now 9th ahead of their match against Faisali

Round 2 started on November after matches were rescheduled with COVID-19 cases on most team lineups.

This season, the league champ will move on to the preliminary round of the Asian Champions League while the second and third teams, instead of the Jordan Cup champ, will play in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup after the Jordan Cup was scrapped from the agenda.

So far this season, Wihdat defeated Ramtha to win the 33rd Jordan Football Association (JFA) Shield. It was their 10th Shield title while Ramtha, who have not won a major competition recently, last won the Jordan Cup in 1990-1991 and the Shield in 2001. 

On the other hand, Faisali beat Jazira to win the 37th Jordan Super Cup which has now been won by Faisali a record 17 times out of 25 final appearances, Wihdat have won 13 times, Ramtha and Shabab Urdun twice each while Jazira, Hussein and Ahli won once each.

The issues of COVID-19 in addition to prize money noticeably downsized after the Manaseer Group, ended its 10-year sponsorship of the JFA, has added to clubs headaches who were already reeling with lack of sponsors, injuries and lack of momentum after a long break. Reigning champs Faisali started the AFC Cup on an unimpressive note, compounded with the kickoff delayed for nearly six months for 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup national team qualifiers, which have now been postponed to next year. 

Last season, Wihdat beat Jazira to win the 36th Jordan Super Cup while Faisali won their 20th Jordan Cup title, adding it to their record 34th league title, one point ahead of Jazira who had led throughout the competition and settled for runner-up. Ahli, who were relegated last decade but came back to win the Jordan Cup in 2015 and played in the AFC, barely secured their spot as Baqa’a were relegated to the First Division after 18 consecutive seasons in the league. They were joined by That Ras, a former AFC Cup participant and 2012 Jordan Cup champ. Ma’an and Sarih were promoted.

Since the Pro League kicked off in 1944 with only Faisali, Urdun, Ahli and Homenetmen competing, Faisali are 34 time record league winners while Wihdat were crowned champs 16 times since they joined in 1980.

HONG KONG — Two-time winners Guangzhou Evergrande will have to do without star man Paulinho as the delayed Asian Champions League East returns this week with a heavy schedule of games played in “bubble” conditions in Qatar.

Fifteen teams will race through 33 matches in a little over two weeks to complete the group stage, suspended because of the coronavirus since early March, with eight teams then playing the knockout phase to decide who reaches the December 19 final.

Shanghai SIPG players, including the former Chelsea midfielder Oscar, Asia’s most expensive player, arrived in full hazmat suits with face masks and protective glasses, illustrating the challenges facing the tournament.

Qatar, the 2022 World Cup host, has already successfully staged the West zone competition, won by Iran’s Persepolis who now await the East winner in the final.

But although Qatar was praised for its “smooth delivery” of the competition, it wasn’t trouble-free as defending champions Al Hilal were kicked out when a coronavirus outbreak left them unable to field enough players.

Players and officials must be tested before departure and on arrival in Qatar, and will undergo further tests every three to six days, the Asian Football Confederation said. Games will be played behind closed doors.

“All players and officials will also be put under a bio-secure bubble which limits their movement only to the hotel, stadium and training sites,” the AFC added.

According to the Beijing Youth Daily, all four Chinese teams are staying in the same hotel in Doha, with four floors each and separate dining areas to prevent mingling.

Player complaints

Evergrande are one of three Chinese sides who are yet to play a match in the competition, which was halted after a handful of games eight months ago as the pandemic advanced.

Coach Fabio Cannavaro, the 2006 Italian World Cup-winning captain, will be hoping to make amends after Evergrande lost their Chinese Super League title to Jiangsu Suning last week.

But they will have to do without Paulinho, the former Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder and their top-scorer in the Chinese Super League, who is out with a thigh injury.

Captain Zheng Zhi, 40, is also ruled out for Evergrande, who begin their campaign against South Korea’s Suwon Samsung Bluewings on Sunday and also face Japan’s Vissel Kobe in Group G.

The group has been cut to three teams after Malaysian authorities refused to let Johor Darul Ta’zim leave the country, whose borders are closed to stop the spread of COVID-19.

In Group H, Shanghai SIPG play Sydney FC on Thursday before facing Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, the 2006 and 2016 champions who are bidding for a trophy treble after winning the South Korean league and cup double.

SIPG have Brazilians Oscar and Hulk and Australia’s Aaron Mooy at their disposal, but former West Ham forward Marko Arnautovic was left out after travelling for internationals with Austria.

Beijing Guoan will similarly be without Cedric Bakambu after the forward flew off to play for Congo.

China’s football association urged Chinese teams not to bring players who have been on international duty, fearing possible coronavirus cases.

South Korea are one of several teams to run into problems during the international break, with goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo — who plays for Ulsan Hyundai in Group F — one of six players to test positive during their trip for friendlies in Austria.

Not everyone is happy about the decision to play the East Asian competition, featuring teams from Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand, in Qatar.

Global players union FIFPRO said players had complained about the risks of travelling, and that quarantine would interfere with family life, domestic games and training.

BERLIN — Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer can make history on Tuesday by clocking up a record 96th appearance in goal for Germany in a Nations League game against Spain.

Neuer equalled Sepp Maier’s record of 95 appearances for a Germany goalkeeper, set in 1979, in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Ukraine in Leipzig.

He can claim the record outright when Germany play Spain on Tuesday to decide their Nations League group.

“It’s about time. It’s 41 years since I set the record and I congratulate him,” Maier, 76, told DPA last week.

At the age of 34, Neuer has given no hint of retirement.

Maier is tipping him to rack up a century of appearances for Germany with seven months to go before their opening match of the postponed Euro championships against world champions France in Munich.

Maier asked why Neuer should hang up his gloves: “There is nothing wrong with him.”

The Bayern stopper proved he remains at his best by hoisting the Champions League trophy for the second time last August in Lisbon, having also won the 2013 final in London with the Bavarian giants.

Neuer made his international debut in 2009, became Germany’s first-choice keeper the following year and has kept 41 clean sheets in his 95 appearances.

Over the last decade, he has reinterpreted the position like Russia’s Lev Yashin did in the 1960s or France’s 1998 World Cup winner Fabien Barthez achieved in his era — Maier is as known for his dominant presence in goal as much as his ability to leave the penalty area and act as an extra defender.

Outfield skills

Such confidence is backed by a skillset which promoted Pep Guardiola when he was Bayern coach to consider using him as an outfield player.

“I remember when Pep Guardiola seriously considered the idea of putting him in midfield for a match. I could only dissuade Pep with great difficulty,” Bayern Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge revealed in February.

In his youth, Neuer once sprinted out of his box to score with a spectacular bicycle kick in a junior match for his then club Schalke.

“As an outfield player, he could easily have played in the third division,” insists Germany’s goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke.

“He anticipates well, his reflexes are remarkable and he has this unbelievably assured aura.

“All together, you can say he has raised the role of goalkeeper to a higher level.”

Neuer has lifted every trophy available to him.

Since joining Bayern from hometown club Schalke in 2011, Gelsenkirchen-born Neuer has won eight Bundesliga titles.

He shut out the normally lethal partnership of Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain as Germany beat Argentina to win the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil.

It was a crowning moment for Neuer, who was voted the world’s best goalkeeper four straight times between 2013-2016.

This year, he was voted Europe’s best keeper for the fifth time.

He has captained Germany since 2016 and even with Barcelona star Marc-Andre ter Stegen in good form, Neuer has made the national Number One shirt his own.

And it was telling that when head coach Joachim Loew decided last year to retire most of his 2014 World Cup-winning veterans, only Toni Kroos and Neuer were retained.

PARIS — World champions France and Germany rode on the influence of their Chelsea stars to rack up Nations League wins on Saturday, while Spain’s Sergio Ramos missed two penalties on the night he celebrated a record-setting 177th international appearance.

Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante scored just his second international goal as France defeated European champions Portugal 1-0 in Lisbon to secure a place in next year’s finals.

Kante was quickest to react to a rebound as he netted the winner on 53 minutes that clinched France top spot in its group.

France lead Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal by three points ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Sweden in Paris but are guaranteed first place by virtue of their superior head-to-head record.

“It’s very nice to see them snatch the win. It’s deserved. We’ve fulfilled our objective of finishing first,” France coach Didier Deschamps said after the win over a Portuguese side which had won the inaugural Nations League title on home soil in 2019.

Kante’s teammate in the English Premier League Timo Werner scored twice on his return to Leipzig as Germany enjoyed a 3-1 win over Ukraine.

Werner spent four years at Leipzig before moving to London and he flourished in familiar surroundings at the Red Bull Arena despite the absence of fans.

The win leaves Germany undefeated in its last 12 games and top of their group, a point ahead of second-placed Spain with the sides due to meet in Sevilla on Tuesday. 

“I had four good years here and it was fun to come back and win,” Werner told ZDF. 

Ukraine took an early lead when Roman Yaremchuk caught the German defence napping.

The hosts roared back with three unanswered goals by Leroy Sane and Werner, who scored either side of half-time, to seal a deserved win.

In Basel, Ramos missed two penalties as Spain needed a late equaliser from Gerard Moreno to draw 1-1 with Switzerland.

Ramos was making his 177th appearance to break the international appearances record for a European player, pulling clear of Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon, who has 176. 

But it was a night to forget for the defender, who saw one spot-kick saved by Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer but backed himself to score a second, only to miss again with a dreadful attempted “Panenka”. 

Ramos had previously scored 25 penalties in a row and his inaccuracy from the spot cost Spain, who will now have to beat Germany to reach the final stage. 

“Sergio’s numbers for penalties are out of this world,” said Spain coach Luis Enrique. 

“If there had been a third penalty, he would have taken that one as well.”

Remo Freuler gave the Swiss a 26th-minute lead but they had Nico Elvedi sent off for conceding the second penalty with 11 minutes left.

Spain finally found an equaliser in the 89th minute as Moreno capitalised on a tiring Swiss defence by converting Sergio Reguilon’s cross.

After losing all four of their opening games in the Nations League, Sweden finally found some form in Solna, beating World Cup runners-up Croatia 2-1.

The Swedes, whose coach Janne Andersson has been sidelined with coronavirus, were 2-0 up at half-time.

Juventus star Dejan Kulusevski opened his international account in the 36th minute when the 20-year-old controlled a long pass from Mikael Lustig before scoring.

Defender Marcus Danielson, who plays his club football in China with Dalian Pro, headed in the second from a corner in first-half stoppage time.

Danielson had the misfortune to put through his own goal with eight minutes left after making contact with an Ivan Perisic header.

Croatia had beaten the Swedes 2-1 in its first meeting but they arrived for the return without midfielder Marcelo Brozovic and defender Domagoj Vida, both of whom had tested positive for COVID-19.

The pandemic also saw UEFA cancel Sunday’s match between Romania and Norway after Norwegian authorities banned the squad from travelling to Bucharest due to a COVID-19 case.

ISTANBUL — Lance Stroll upstaged Formula One’s title-chasing Lewis Hamilton on Saturday when he grabbed the first pole position of his career at the Turkish Grand Prix, the Canadian saying “it feels really good right now”.

The 22-year-old Racing Point driver made the most of drying conditions on a treacherous track to end Mercedes’ 13-race domination of qualifying this year.

Stroll delivered a dazzling fastest lap in one minute and 47.765 seconds in the closing seconds to usurp his teammate Sergio Perez and then resist a last surge from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

The disappointed Dutchman was second, three-tenths behind Stroll, but ahead of Mexican Perez who claimed his career-best starting position after finishing fourth nine times in the past.

Stroll was the first Canadian to take pole since Jacques Villeneuve at the 1997 European Grand Prix at Jerez and it was the Silverstone-based Racing Point team’s first pole since, racing as Jordan, they did so at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix.

The outcome left Mercedes well-beaten on the weekend when Lewis Hamilton bids to seal a record-equalling seventh drivers’ championship and draw level with seven-time champion Michael Schumacher.

The six-time champion wound up sixth behind Alex Albon in the second Red Bull and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo whose teammate Esteban Ocon qualified seventh.

“Yes, Yes, Yes boys,” Stroll screamed on the team radio.

“I can’t really put it into words,” he added.

“I’m shocked. I didn’t expect to be up here after FP3.

‘Feels good right now’

“There were a lot of things we weren’t sure about coming into qualifying. We didn’t look that competitive in Q3.”

His surprise qualifying performance comes after a difficult few weeks when he had to miss the Eifel Grand Prix, testing positive for coronavirus the next day.

“It has been a pretty rough ride for me so it feels good. Feels really good right now.”

This is the first time this season that neither Hamilton (nine) nor Bottas (four) have topped qualifying.

Hamilton can seal a record-equalling seventh drivers’ world title on Sunday if he prevents Bottas from outscoring him by eight points.

After Friday’s ice rink conditions on the resurfaced circuit, heavy rain ushered in even more treacherous challenges in which most of the drivers slithered and spun.

The Q1 session was interrupted twice for red flags, when Race Control declared the track was unsafe — firstly due to the conditions and then, secondly, when Romain Grosjean spun into a gravel trap in his Haas.

The interruptions added 50 minutes to the schedule as daylight receded in the appalling conditions, but the brilliant car control of Verstappen and his Red Bull team-mat Albon was on display as they topped the times, the Dutchman 1.9 seconds clear.

In the drama, Leclerc slithered through to Q2 while Hamilton, his best lap cancelled for exceeding track limits, struggled through in 14th place.

Grosjean was eliminated along with his Haas team-mate Kevin Magnussen, the two Williams of George Russell and Nicholas Latifi and Alpha Tauri’s Daniil Kvyat.

In the severe conditions, the teams were making extreme use of their tyre-warming facilities to ensure drivers could find at least some minimal grip before the rain relented, encouraging some to try intermediates.

In Q2, both Mercedes were clearly struggling to keep any heat in their tyres while Verstappen, oozing confidence, set the pace.

At the flag, the Dutchman was two seconds clear of Albon with Hamilton 2.4 down in third and Bottas seventh while both Ferraris failed to make the cut to the top-ten shootout.

In Q3 Verstappen went four seconds clear of nearest rival Bottas before Perez, on intermediates, re-set expectations by topping the Dutchman and prompting a switch of tyres for everyone else for the final surprising runs.

LONDON — Novak Djokovic is bidding to win the ATP Finals for a record-equalling sixth time as Rafael Nadal chases the biggest title missing from his glittering resume at London’s O2 Arena.

The top eight available players in the men’s rankings — with Roger Federer absent — will compete at the end-of-season tournament, which starts on Sunday behind closed doors despite a coronavirus lockdown in England.

The two round-robin groups have been named Tokyo 1970 and London 2020 on the 50th anniversary of the first staging of the event.

World number one Djokovic is in Group Tokyo alongside Daniil Medvedev, 2018 winner Alexander Zverev and Argentine debutant Diego Schwartzman.

Second-seed Nadal will compete against defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, Dominic Thiem, and Andrey Rublev, who is appearing for the first time, in Group London.

The four best-placed players from the round-robin stage will progress to the semi-finals of the event, taking place in London for the final year before a move to Turin.

Six-time champion Federer, recovering from knee surgery, is the most notable absentee after a global tennis season truncated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Five-time champion Djokovic, who recently equalled Pete Sampras’s record of six year-end number one finishes, has lost just three matches this season, with one of those his default at the US Open.

The Serbian, who has not won the London event since 2015, said he was looking to end his season on a high at the elite eight-man event.

“Coming into the tournament and knowing that I have clinched the year-end number one releases some of the pressure, definitely,” he said.

“But at the same time it doesn’t change what I hope to achieve in this tournament and why I’m here.

“I really want to win every single match that I get to play and try to get my hands on the trophy and I want this trophy as much as anybody.”

Nadal drought

Nadal, who pulverised Djokovic in the French Open final last month to pull level with Federer on 20 Grand Slams, has qualified for the ATP Finals for a record 16 consecutive years

The Spanish world number two is well aware of his shortcomings on indoor hard courts — only one of his 86 trophies has come on the surface.

“I think I am able to play a little bit better the last couple of years indoors than what I did at the beginning of my career without a doubt but that’s the numbers and I can’t say something different,” said the 34-year-old two-time finalist.

“I hope to change that this week.”

Despite his lack of indoor success, the shortened season could count in Nadal’s favour — he has been forced to withdraw from the ATP Finals six times previously.

Last year’s winner Tsitsipas, who beat Thiem in the final, comes into the tournament after early exits in Vienna and Paris.

“Very happy to be back, that’s for sure,” said the Greek world number six. “Every year I get to experience being back here is thrilling.

“It’s like a meeting spot for those that had a good year to be back here, celebrate their hard work, their dedication to the sport. I’m very privileged to be part of it.”

Austria’s Thiem broke his Grand Slam duck at the US Open in September, beating Zverev in the final, and the world number three said he now felt as comfortable on hard courts as he does on clay.

Zverev, who has won two titles this season, has been dogged in recent weeks by domestic assault allegations made by a former girlfriend but he insists they are untrue.

“While I very much regret that those accusations are made, I have to stick to my initial thing of them being just untrue and continue to deny them,” said the German.

Medvedev, who lost all three matches on his debut in London last year, comes into the tournament as one of the form horses after winning last week’s Paris Masters.

Rublev, who has had a breakthrough season, winning five titles, and world number nine Schwartzman complete the field.

PARIS — Finland spoiled Marcus Thuram’s party on Wednesday after beating France 2-0 on the day the Borussia Moenchengladbach attacker emulated his father Lilian Thuram by making his debut for Les Bleus.

Thuram was picked by Didier Deschamps for the friendly at the Stade de France over 22 years after his dad won the World Cup at the same ground, but despite a strong performance on the left wing could not stop the Finns from coming out on top.

The 23-year-old hit the bar with less 15 minutes gone and soon after flashed a difficult volley over as he and Lucas Digne caused continual problems down the left flank for the away side.

However, Marcus Forss stunned the hosts when he collected the ball after a Moussa Sissoko mistake and rammed home at Steve Mandanda’s near post.

France barely had any time to react before Onni Valakari doubled the away side’s lead with a stunning effort after being left to stroll towards goal.

Deschamps brought on Antoine Griezmann, Anthony Martial and N’Golo Kante just before the hour mark but could not break down the well-organised Finns.

The result will disappoint Deschamps but he will likely have been happy with the performance of Thuram, who made more of an impression than some of the more established international players on display, including Paul Pogba and Olivier Giroud.

“It was a good first half despite the goals,” Thuram told TV channel M6.

“I’m trying to learn a lot alongside the other internationals... and to gain as much experience as possible. I hope that will continue.”

He could be in contention for World Cup holders France’s upcoming Nations League matches against European champions Portugal and Sweden.

Deschamps said last week that the son of his old France teammate had “gone up a level” since joining Moenchengladbach from French side Guingamp in July 2019.

Thuram has scored three times in 11 appearances for the Bundesliga side this season and was the first footballer in Germany to take a knee in protest following the death of the 46-year-old African American George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

Lilian Thuram is the most-capped player in the history of the French national team with 142 appearances and as well as winning the ‘98 World Cup also triumphed alongside Deschamps at Euro 2000.

Cristiano Ronaldo continued his quest to snatch the all-time record for most international goals when he struck his 102nd Portugal goal in their in a 7-0 win over Andorra.

France’s opponents on Saturday in what could be a Nations League A, Group 3 decider strolled post their weak opponents in Lisbon despite not starting a single player from the team that beat Sweden 3-0 last month.

Ronaldo missed that match after testing positive for coronavirus and was introduced at half-time on Wednesday, but had to wait until there were only five minutes remaining to boost his record bid with a close-range header.

Former Iran striker Ali Daei holds the record on 109 goals.

Italy extended their unbeaten streak to 20 games after a second-string line-up comfortably beat Estonia a 4-0.

Vincenzo Grifo scored his first senior international goal with a long-range drive in the 14th minute and Federico Bernardeschi put the hosts two goals ahead 13 minutes later when he drifted in from the right and crashed a low shot past Marko Meerits in the Estonia goal.

Grifo stepped up and scored his second from the penalty spot when Roberto Gagliardini was tripped with 15 minutes remaining and Riccardo Orsolini added a fourth also from the spot four minutes from the end to complete the rout.

Frank de Boer’s wait for a first win as Netherlands coach goes on after his team drew 1-1 with Spain in a friendly in Amsterdam on Wednesday.

De Boer has now gone four matches without a victory since being appointed in September to succeed Ronald Koeman, who left to take over at Barcelona.

A first-half goal by Benfica striker Luca Waldschmidt sealed Germany a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic, while two Michy Batshuayi goals helped Belgium to a 2-1 victory over Switzerland.

AMMAN — Jordan plays Iraq on Thursday as the national team returns to competitions after a long break.

The national team is now holding a training camp in Dubai which runs up to November 17 during, and the team will also play Syria as it gets ready to resume qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Qatar and 2023 Asian Cup in China.

Jordan has played Iraq 44 times, with the latter winning 24 encounters and Jordan winning 10 times, with 10 draws. The record against Syria, favours Jordan with 11 wins, 10 wins for the Syrians and eight draws.

It has been a year since official matches were played. Jordan now shares second spot with Kuwait in Group B qualifiers with matches remaining against, Nepal, Kuwait and Australia. Australia is in the lead and Jordan has complicated its qualifying chances as the top team from each of the eight competing groups and four best second place finishers will move to the 2023 Asian Cup finals and Round 3 of World Cup qualifiers.

Jordan last played Taiwan beating them 5-0. Earlier results included a 2-1 win over Taiwan 2-1, losing 1-0 to Australia, holding Kuwait 0-0 and beating Nepal 3-0.

Last week, Jordan dropped one spot to 97th when FIFA Rankings were announced. The team has been idle after the COVID 19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the world sporting agenda in the midst of the Kingdom’s matches for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and 2023 Asian Cup.

Observers had pointed out to an incoherent line-up and the postponement of the local league as one reason behind Jordan’s unsteady performances. Apart from official competition, the team was not any better in friendlies nor was able to go beyond 97th in FIFA Rankings throughout last year.

In latest FIFA World Rankings, Jordan is 12th among Arab teams and 16th in Asia, lagging behind relatively uncompetitive Asian teams compared to their best ranking of 37th in 2004.

Last year, Jordan lost 4-2 to Paraguay in a friendly against the team that reached the World Cup eight times, and had its best World Cup showing in 2010 when Paraguay was knocked out in the quarter-finals.

On the world scene, the national team’s peak performance was in 2013 when Jordan was on the verge of qualifying to the 2014 World Cup for the first time and advanced to play then World’s 6 th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying tie.

The Kingdom had never reached that far in World Cup qualifying since first taking part in qualifiers. Round 3 had been the furthest Jordan reached in the past seven times since 1986 qualifiers.

In the last edition of the Asian Cup Jordan reached the Round of 16. Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972, Jordan played at the Asian Cup finals four times. The highlight was at the 13 th Asian Cup in 2004, when it lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA Ranking of 37th. They also reached the Asian Cup in 2011 and 2015 and 2019.

Regionally, Jordan finished runner up to Bahrain at the 9th West Asian Championship in 2019. It was the fourth time for Jordan in the final after 2002, 2008 and 2014. Iran won the title for the fourth time in 2008 while Iraq won the title once in 2002, Kuwait in 2010, Syria in 2012 , Qatar in 2014 and Bahrain in 2019.

HELSINKI — The postponement of Euro 2020 put Finland’s major tournament debut on ice but, when the finals do come around, the Nordic nation have their sights set on emulating the remarkable recent achievements of Iceland.

One of the enduring memories of the last European Championship in France in 2016 is that of Iceland — roared on by a huge support and their “Viking Thunder Clap” — knocking out England on their way to the quarter-finals.

Iceland reached the last World Cup too, and still hope to go to the next Euro along with Finland, who will be there when it finally goes ahead a year behind schedule.

“In a way it’s already a dream for us to play in the finals, but we are not going there just to participate, we want to achieve something more,” Finland coach Markku Kanerva told AFP in an interview ahead of his team’s latest get-together and a friendly against world champions France on Wednesday in Paris.

“It’s the same with Sweden in the World Cup, they did very well,” said Kanerva, with a nod to Finland’s neighbours who reached the quarter-finals in Russia in 2018.

“I believe they are examples for us because they are from the Nordic countries as well and there are some strengths in all our Nordic countries, mentally and, as I mentioned, we are organised teams and we can also learn what have been the key factors behind their success.”

In a nation of 5.5 million people where football plays a distant second fiddle to ice hockey, Finland had never really come close to reaching a major tournament before, even in the days of the great Jari Litmanen, a Champions League winner with Ajax in 1995.

But Kanerva was appointed in 2016 and led them to Euro 2020 as they finished second in qualifying behind Italy.

“We weren’t the favourites in our group because Italy was the favourite, then Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece as well, they were the main candidates to qualify. And we managed to surprise them,” said Kanerva, whose side are 55th in the FIFA rankings.

Pukki ‘a huge figure’

He was grateful for the goals of Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki, a “huge figure in Finnish football” according to Kanerva, and who contributed 10 in the qualifying campaign as the team did their bit to raise the sport’s profile at home.

“People are talking more about football and congratulate us, me and all the players as well, and there are many people who said, ‘I never believed the Finnish national team could qualify for a major international tournament,’ and they’re very proud of that, and we are as well.

“The players believe in themselves and as a team we believe we can achieve something new and we actually did it.”

Excitement about going to the Euro increased when they were drawn in the same group as neighbours Russia, Denmark and the world’s top-ranked team Belgium.

It is only 200 kilometres from the Finnish border to Saint-Petersburg, where they are due to play Russia and Belgium, but talk of an influx of Finnish supporters is on hold due to the health crisis and rumours the Europe-wide format might be changed.

Nevertheless Finland are preparing the best they can, and are currently doing well in the Nations League, notably beating the Republic of Ireland home and away.

Over the next week, after facing France, they play in Bulgaria and Wales where they will be without Augsburg’s Fredrik Jensen, a scorer in each of the last three Nations League matches.

But Kanerva can call on the likes of Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, midfielder Glen Kamara, ex-Arsenal and now of Rangers, and Bundesliga-based Joel Pohjanpalo.

And then there’s Pukki.

“He was one of the key players in our qualification, scoring ten goals... so of course that’s his role, to score goals,” said Kanerva.

“And Teemu can’t score goals without good delivery, and that’s very important to keep in mind that someone has to assist his goals as well. So of course there are many other important players in the squad with a very huge role behind our success.”