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AMMAN — Jazira will seek to take their lead further when they face runner-up Shabab Urdun in the highlight of Week 10 matches of the Jordan Professional Football League which kicked off Thursday.

The league was on break for the past ten days as the national team hosted India beating them 2-1 before holding Saudi Arabia 1-1 in the final home camp ahead of the 2019 Asian Cup in the UAE. They will leave to Doha, Qatar to hold a training camp in which they will play Kyrgyzstan on December 20, Qatar on December 24 and China on December 28 in the final phase of preparations. Last month Jordan held Albania 0-0 and lost 2-1 to World Cup runner-up Croatia. 

Jazira have maintained their lead and like the past two seasons have been at the forefront ahead of usual champs Wihdat and Faisali. Last week, Jazira beat Sarih 2-1 to keep their 5 point lead while Shabab Urdun beat Baqaa 1-0 to remain second. Saturday’s match is decisive as Jazira aim to take their lead further while Shabab Urdun see it as a chance to consolidate their advance drawing closer to the top spot.

Salt are third after they beat That Ras 2-1 and next play Ramtha who are 9th after upsetting Hussein 3-0.

Faisali are fourth after a 1-0 win over Ahli, who are still among the last two. Faisali next play Baqaa while Wihdat, who are fifth after beating Aqaba 2-0, face That Ras on the weekend.

The 2018/19 football season kicked off with league champs Wihdat beating Jordan Cup champs Jazira in the 36th Jordan Super Cup — the first major competition on the annual football calendar.

Last season, Wihdat won the league for a record 16th time. Jazira lost two competition finals conceding the 35th Jordan Super Cup to Faisali and the Jordan Football Association Shield final to Wihdat. Jazira also finished runner-up in the league but made club history by winning the 38th Jordan Cup final after they last won the Jordan Cup in 1984.

Faisali are 33-time league winners since 1944 while Wihdat are 16-time leagues champs since 1980.

On the regional scene, this season, Jazira were eliminated from Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup West Asia zone final losing to the Iraqi Air Force team and failing to reach the continent’s final. Faisali had bowed out in the event’s semifinals. Likewise, Ramtha bowed out to Tunisia’s Etoile Sportive Du Sahel in the preliminary round of the Arab Club Champions Cup. League holders Wihdat will represent Jordan in the 2018/19 AFC Champions League. Jordanian teams have never before made it past the ACL preliminary round. In the 2017/18 edition, Faisali were eliminated, while Wihdat were knocked out in 2017, 2016 and 2015 and Shabab Urdun were eliminated in 2014.

ROME — Twelve months after a humiliating 0-0 draw in a play-off against Sweden ensured Italy would miss the World Cup for the first time in 60 years, a repeat of that scoreline against Portugal at the weekend was greeted with far more positivity by the local media.

A year ago, the Corriere dello Sport said the 1-0 aggregate defeat to the Swedes was “an intolerable footballing shame” while the Corriere della Sera warned: “Italian football is about to be battered by an unprecedented storm”.

The failure to reach Russia cost coach Gian Piero Ventura his job and it was left to Roberto Mancini to navigate Italy though that storm and salvage something from the wreck of a failed World Cup campaign.

Since taking over in May, the former Manchester City, Lazio and Inter Milan coach has successfully built foundations for a solid future, while beginning to restore the national team’s tarnished reputation in the eyes of its public.

The goalless draw at the San Siro against Portugal on Saturday was only good enough to seal second place in their UEFA Nations League group, however, and afterwards Mancini described the task ahead of him.

“There’s a long way to go and we are working, trying to renovate the national side with young players and a different tactical approach,” he said.

The new tournament was his team’s first competitive test and while results have not blown anyone away, the performances have been encouraging as Italy avoided relegation to the second tier by finishing ahead of Poland in the three-nation pool.

Scoring goals has been the main problem but not for a lack of trying, and in four games against Portugal and Poland, the Azzurri hit 53 shots, 12 on target, but managed to score just three times. 

During Tuesday’s 1-0 friendly win over the United States in Belgium, Italy needed a 94th-minute Matteo Politano strike to seal victory despite boasting 74 per cent possession and having 17 attempts on goal.

The numbers are indicative of the style Mancini has implemented, built around a technically gifted midfield who move the ball quickly in a 4-3-3 system, a game plan that has drawn comparisons to Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli and Chelsea sides.

Although the goal drought remains a concern, the general consensus is that performances will eventually yield results.

Gazzetta dello Sport acknowledged the improvement, saying: “We can console ourselves with a national team that’s growing, playing well and knows how to fight,” but warned: “In March, we can’t make any more mistakes: the road to Euro 2020 starts.”

Improvement on the pitch has also helped Mancini begin to win back supporters, with 73,000 fans packing out San Siro for the visit of Portugal.

The stalemate saw Italy set an unwanted record of failing to win six consecutive home games for the first time, but the statistic been received as an unwelcome side note rather than a devastating indication of Italy’s fall from grace.

Mancini’s readiness to give youth a chance has provided another reason for optimism. 

Juventus’ 18-year-old striker Moise Kean came off the bench against the US to become the first senior Italy international born in the 21st century, while Gigi Donnarumma (19), Nicolo Barella (21), and Federico Chiesa (21) have featured regularly.

Additionally, there have been recalls for Mario Balotelli and Sebastian Giovinco, and surprise call-ups for lesser-known Italians playing abroad such as Vincenzo Grifo of Hoffenheim and Valencia’s Cristiano Piccini.

Mancini’s open-door policy should ensure that no talent is left wasted and once his swashbuckling style starts to produce goals, Italy may finally exorcise their November 2017 demons.

AMMAN — Jordan is sending its top players to Malmo, Sweden, to compete at the World Ju-Jitsu Championships from November 23-25.

A strong squad of 12 has been selected, including Yanal Shahadeh, Zaid Jarandoka, Basel Fanous, Bader Khuzai, Hamzeh Al Rasheed, Abdulkareem Al Rasheed, Ghaleb Al Harahsheh, AbdulMajeed Al Fauri, Freih Al Harahsheh, Anas Shamout, Yara Qaqeesh and Enas Sami.

The team will be managed by national coach, Zeid Abu Al Soud who said his chargers are capable of picking up medals. “We started training for this as soon as we returned home from the Asian Games in September,” said Abu Al Soud.

“We will be competing in new weights this weekend but the competition will be tough. It will not be easy and the athletes realise that they will have to do something special to medal, but they are certainly good enough.”

This will be the biggest ever World Championships with over 600 participants from 55 countries confirmed. At last year’s edition, Abdulkareem Al Rasheed won gold and Hamzeh Al Rasheed took silver in Colombia.

DOHA — Wednesday marks exactly four years to the kickoff of the next World Cup in Qatar, which could, yet, be an instrument to help end regional tensions and the first 48-team tournament if FIFA President Gianni Infantino gets his way.

The head of world football’s governing body has been pressing in recent weeks for the 2022 finals to expand from the 32 teams in Russia this year to 48, even though it was previously planned that the expansion of the World Cup would happen when Canada, Mexico and the United States jointly host the 2026 finals.

“We are looking at it. If it is possible, why not?” Infantino said last month. “We are discussing with our Qatari friends, we are discussing with our many other friends in the region and we hope that this can happen.”

Qatar have not yet responded to the idea but previously have sounded cautious about the country’s capacity to go beyond a 32-team tournament.

Organisers are building only eight stadiums for the one-month tournament, which has been controversially pushed back to late in the year because of the fierce summer heat. It kicks off on November 21, 2022 with the final on December 18.

Any expansion would mean Qatar possibly sharing some matches with their neighbours, but the country is the subject of an economic blockade imposed by four of them.

In mid-2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut transport and trade links with Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism and Iran — charges Qatar denies.

Imports blocked

The boycott disrupted Qatar’s shipping routes through the Gulf and blocked imports across its only land border, with Saudi Arabia, previously the route for its perishable food supplies and construction materials.

It has meant Qatar has had to dig into its deep pockets to find alternative trading partners and keep its World Cup preparations on track.

“To think there are people in the region who might not enjoy the first World Cup in the Middle East is very disappointing,” said Hassan Al Thawadi, who heads the local organising committee. “We look forward to this matter being sorted out. Football is for the people and we want this tournament to reach the people of the region.” 

“Personally, as president of FIFA, I would be very happy if some matches could be shared with some countries in the region,” said Infantino, adding that football had the power to break the impasse if all else failed. “Football unites, builds bridges; that could be a concrete result.”

Qatar is the smallest country to host the finals, with the distance between the two furthest venues a mere 72 kilometres.

The country is a hub of building activity with Qatar promising to deliver the completed venues some 24 months before the tournament begins.

One is already completed: the Khalifa International Stadium in the capital Doha reopened in May last year after renovations, including the installation of a cooling system that can take the temperature in the venue down to the mid-teens.

Qatar is spending a staggering $200 billion on hosting the tournament, although Al Thawadi said only between eight and 10 billion was being spent on the stadiums.

The rest is going on wider infrastructure projects, including a rail link, already partially completed, that will connect all the venues.

The Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor will be the most northerly venue, seating some 60,000 in a stadium covered by a giant tent structure, but the rest are in and round Doha, making for a World Cup that will have little in common with those that have come before it.

AMMAN — Saif Romman, who finished second on Friday, came from fifth place overall to win the Jordan 4x4 Championship by just one point, on the banks of the Dead Sea. Hamzeh Tymour came in second, followed by Hisham Ibrahim.

Round One winner Khaled Quran took fourth in the championship, while the top five was completed by Zawerbek Janbek.

The co-driver series was won by Mohammad Adam, with Tarek Sweis in second and Adnan Bjamt-Hala in third. The top team for the season was ‘Tat3ees’.

PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka — Spin duo Moeen Ali and Jack Leach combined to end England’s 17-year wait for a Test series victory in Sri Lanka after bowling the tourists to a 57-run victory in the second test on Sunday.

Moeen struck twice in three deliveries and Leach completed his maiden five-wicket haul as the tourists took a little over 30 minutes on the final morning to seal victory and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-Test series.

Sri Lanka resumed on 226 for seven, needing 75 to keep the series alive after its opening loss in Galle, but were all out for 243 as England completed its first away series win in Tests since beating South Africa at the beginning of 2016.

The England side led by Nasser Hussain were the last to register a series victory in Sri Lanka in 2001 and Joe Root’s men arrived in the country winless in their last 13 Tests away from home.

Their last series victory in Asia was in India six years ago and not many would have bet on England to win with a match to spare against Sri Lanka, which defeated South Africa 2-0 at home in July.

“We said we are going to come out here and play bold cricket, we were quite courageous at times and everyone’s really bought into that. We are seeing the rewards now,” Root said at the post-match presentation.

“We have to keep looking to improve. We have seen this team grow in the last six-eight months. We are not the finished article, we want to get to number one at some point.

“We have to be consistent to do that, in all parts of the world and on different surfaces.”

For the first time in a test match, spinners claimed 38 wickets with Leach and Moeen sharing 14 between them on a turning track at Pallekele.

Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain Lakmal was the only quick to pick up a wicket while the other was a run out.

It was also the first time since 1973 in Karachi that no seamer took a wicket in a Test for England.

Moeen strikes

When play resumed on Sunday, Sri Lanka’s hopes of squaring the series rested entirely on wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella, who was unbeaten on 27 overnight.

The hosts managed to keep the England spinners at bay for 15 minutes while picking up singles to advance towards their target but Moeen broke their resistance by dismissing Dickwella, who was caught at slip by Stokes for 35.

The off-spinner then sent back Lakmal for a duck two deliveries later before Malinda Pushpakumara spooned a catch straight back to left-arm spinner Leach.

“It was a brilliant test match,” said Root, who was named player of the match for his brilliant 124 in the second innings.

“We were very good for the whole game. At times we were under pressure and we responded really well to that. [I] couldn’t be more proud of the guys.”

Sri Lanka batted well in both innings but Sam Curran’s counter-attacking 64 in the first innings and Root’s century under pressure in the second made the difference for England.

“Sri Lanka played brilliantly in both innings,” added Root, after registering his first away series victory as captain.

“At times we lost clusters of wickets but we stayed very calm and managed to find ways to get back in the game and get the control back in our favour.”

The third and final Test of the series will start on Friday in Colombo.

AMMAN — Shergo Kurdi has clinched the Arab U-18 Golf Championship hosted in Rabat, Morocco, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The youngster held off a quality field to retain the title, underlining his reputation as the region’s leading rising star.

The win continues his fantastic 2018 which has seen the 15-year-old win push for titles across Europe and Asia.

LONDON — Roger Federer will end the year tantalisingly short of his 100th career title after the king of men’s tennis was forced to bow to young prince Alexander Zverev at the ATP Finals on Saturday.

The 37-year-old Federer, whose 99 titles are second only to the 109 of Jimmy Connors, began the day’s first semifinal, as favourite but it was German Zverev who revelled in the big match atmosphere at a packed O2 Arena to win 7-5, 7-6(5).

On Sunday, the 21-year-old will chase the biggest title of his fledgling career when he takes on either World No. 1 Novak Djokovic or South Africa’s Kevin Anderson.

Zverev is the first German to reach the final of the season-ender since Boris Becker lost to Pete Sampras in 1996.

Saturday’s clash between the Swiss winner of 20 Grand Slam titles and the tousle-haired youngster tipped to lead the sport into a brave new era once the holy trinity of Federer, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal depart the stage, did not disappoint.

After 11 games without so much as a break point it was Federer who surprisingly blinked first.

Zverev curled a superb running forehand pass down the line to get to 0-30 on the Federer serve and was then gifted two points and the set as the second seed’s forehand malfunctioned.

Federer was not about to be ushered off one of his favourite stages without a fight though and a rapier-like backhand pass gave him the early break in the second set, only for Zverev to hit back immediately to cancel out the advantage.

The German, winner of more matches than any other player on Tour this year, had his opponent in trouble when Federer served at 3-4, but the Swiss reeled off four points to stay on level terms in the set.

Chants of “Let’s Go Roger, Let’s Go” reverberated around the darkened arena as the second-set tiebreak began, and there were boos as Zverev stopped a rally when trailing 3-4 because a ballboy had dropped a ball.

There were then gasps of despair from the Federer diehards when their man got a little too delicate with an attempted drop volley at 4-5 to hand Zverev two match points.

Federer saved one but Zverev would not be denied, belting away a backhand drive volley to end the contest.

Shortly after German wunderkind Alexander Zverev trudged off court having lost to Chung Hyeon at this year’s Australian Open he was treated to a few kind words from Roger Federer.

Whatever the Swiss great said apparently had some effect because scroll forward to the end of the year and the 21-year-old tops the tour match wins chart with 56.

He has three titles to his name this season, including winning a third Masters 1000 in Madrid.

World No. 5 Zverev, now under the watchful eye of eight-times Grand Slam champion, and former coach to Andy Murray, Ivan Lendl, does not attribute his great season to Federer’s words of wisdom. But they certainly did no harm.

“That chat was more for then in that time. I was very upset about my third-round loss,” Zverev told reporters after his 7-6(5), 6-3 win over John Isner to seal a last-four spot.

“I had a tough match, another tough loss at a Grand Slam. He was more talking about that, that I shouldn’t get too upset. He made his first quarter-final much later in his career, as well.”

Zverev, tipped to lead tennis forward in the post Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Murray era, finally reached a Grand Slam quarter-final at this year’s French Open — at the 15th time of asking. Federer did it in his eighth.

There are signs, though, that Zverev is beginning to harness his natural power and foot speed into a complete package. 

Former World No. 1 Mats Wilander believes the appointment of Lendl could be a key decision for Zverev.

“He is going in the right direction,” the Swede told Reuters. “He’s made big steps in his ranking which is good and small steps in terms of his game. He is not panicking any more.

“There is still room for improvement. It won’t be overnight but it’s going to help him tremendously to have someone like Ivan with his experience. Lendl made just small changes with Murray and he ended up winning a bunch of majors.”

LONDON — Novak Djokovic fears staging a revamped Davis Cup finals and a revived ATP World Team Cup weeks apart could hurt the sport and result in creating two “average” events.

Tennis’s world governing body the ITF was given the green light in August to launch a new Davis Cup format next year, culminating in an 18-nation finals week to be held at the end of November in Madrid.

Several leading players, including Djokovic, have questioned the timing of the ITF’s flagship event, coming at the end of a gruelling 11-month season and Germany’s Alexander Zverev said this week he would not play in the showpiece finals.

The ATP, the governing body of the men’s game, are behind plans for a rival World Team Cup. 

On Thursday the ATP’s chief Chris Kermode and Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley, together with ATP Player Council President Djokovic, will hold a news conference in London to launch the World Team Cup which is set to start in January 2020.

The ATP’s competition, to be staged in Australia before the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, will feature 24 teams, offer $15 million in prize money and ranking points.

With the ITF and ATP on collision course and both seemingly determined to push ahead with their rival events, Djokovic believes it could end up being damaging for the sport.

“Obviously the Davis Cup and World Team Cup situation is delicate,” Djokovic told reporters after his 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Zverev at the ATP Finals on Wednesday.

“We find ourselves in this kind of particular circumstances and situations that we have to deal with right now.

“I think in the next two years we’ll have both events happening in a very similar format if not the same, six weeks apart. I honestly don’t think it’s good for the sport.”

The 118-year-old Davis Cup has been diluted somewhat by leading players like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal picking and choosing when they commit to the event.

Its new format — launched with the backing of investment group Kosmos led by Spanish international footballer Gerard Pique, is designed to raise its profile with Madrid being chosen as the first host city for the 18 competing nations.

Djokovic, who helped Serbia win the title in 2010, is not convinced the two new events can survive.

“I think it’s not sustainable. It will happen that we will have two average events. So I think creating one event is an ideal scenario and I think outcome for everyone,” he said.

“From what I’ve heard from conversations with people from all of the sides, different sides in this sport, they all want to have one event because it’s over-saturated with different cups, different events.

“We have to try to focus on quality rather than quantity.”

Djokovic also voiced frustration with the various governing bodies, including the ATP.

“I think the majority really care about this sport deeply, whoever is involved. Sometimes our differences get in the way,” he said. “Whether I think the structure of the ATP specifically can be better, I actually do.

“I don’t think it’s working very well, to be honest.”

Zverev labelled the length of the tennis season “ridiculous” after appearing to run out of steam against Djokovic on Wednesday.

“The issue is that our season is way too long. That’s the issue. But I’ve said it before,” Zverev, whose 55 match wins this year is more than any other player, told reporters.

“We play for 11 months a year. That’s ridiculous. No other professional sport does that.”

Despite being widely-tipped as a future Grand Slam champion, Zverev has, yet, to go beyond the quarter-finals at any of the four majors.

He already owns three Masters 1000 titles though, including this year on clay in Madrid.

Zverev has hired eight-time Grand Slam champion Ivan Lendl in a bid move to the next level and World No.1 Djokovic believes that is a sound move that will pay dividends.

Djokovic also said fans should be patient with the likes of Zverev and fellow youngsters like Croatia’s Borna Coric and Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas as they seek to make their breakthroughs in the sport’s biggest events.

“I know you guys might be a little bit rough on them,” he told reporters. “I think there is a lot of quality in the new generation. Zverev is obviously the leader of that next generation. He has proven himself.

“Obviously Lendl is one of the biggest legends of our sport. Having him in your box as your mentor, as your tennis coach, is very valuable. He’s definitely on the good path.

“Having Lendl, as I said, can only serve him as an incentive for an improvement.”

Zverev missed out on a semifinal berth on his debut at the season-ender last year and will need to beat John Isner on Friday to have a chance of sticking around for the weekend.

“I’ve got one more group match to play here. We’ll see how that goes,” Zverev, who opened his round-robin play with a win over Marin Cilic on Monday, said.

“I think I’ll take it as a normal quarter-final match at a normal tournament.”

AMMAN — Jordan has two friendly football matches scheduled this month as the squad prepares the 2019 Asian Cup in the UAE.

Jordan will play India on November 17, and Saudi Arabia on November 20 within an internal camp before they leave to Doha to hold a training camp in which it will play Kyrgyzstan on December 20, Qatar on December 24 and China on December 28 in the final phase of preparations.

The Kingdom’s competitive edge is lacking and judging by FIFA Rankings it seems there will be a tough task ahead. Jordan last played two friendlies holding Albania 0-0 and losing 2-1 to World Cup runner-up Croatia.

Earlier last month, coach Jamal Abu Abed was relieved of his duty by the Jordan Football Association as squad’s competitive form looked doubtful following a 0-0 draw with Oman and a 1-0 defeat to Lebanon.