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AMMAN — Jordan’s national team, gearing up for the 2019 Asian Cup, is finalising its agenda leading up to the continent’s leading football competition.

It was announced over the weekend that the team will have a training camp in Qatar in December during which matches against the host and Kyrgyzstan have been set ahead of the January 6 Asian Cup kick off.

The national team, now at a low 110th in the latest FIFA Rankings, last played Cyprus winning 3-0 in a new series of friendlies. Jordan is next set to host Lebanon on September 6 and Oman on September 11. There were discussions of also playing Albania and Croatia in October. In case the West Asian Championship is not held in November, officials were contemplating hosting a friendly tournament in November.

Once among the Asia top 10, Jordan is now 19th in the continent, lagging behind relatively uncompetitive Asian teams.

Jordan was drawn in Group B alongside Australia, Syria and Palestine for the Asian Cup, but advancing to the 2019 UAE event was not a difficult task against relatively unknown teams in the Asian continent. The 24 teams were split to play in six groups. The top two from each group and four third placed teams will advance to the Round of 16. 

Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972, Jordan reached the Asian Championship three times. The pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup, when they lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA rank of 37th in August 2004. It also reached the Asian Cup in 2011 and 2015.

After elimination from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, getting to the Asian finals was a priority for Jordan who have steadily slid down FIFA rankings and the team has had inconsistent results compared to 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 6th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying tie. It lost the home game 5-0 and held the former World Cup champs 0-0 in the away match. Jordan had never reached that far in World Cup qualifying since taking part in qualifiers. Round 3 had been the furthest Jordan reached in the past seven times in the qualifiers since 1986.

HOCKENHEIM, Germany — Lewis Hamilton went from 14th to first to seize a "miracle" German Grand Prix victory for Mercedes on Sunday and re-takes the Formula One championship lead from Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who crashed.

Vettel, now 17 points behind the Briton after starting eight ahead, led from pole position until rain caused chaos in the closing laps, with the German sliding into the barriers in front of his home fans.

Hamilton, the reigning world champion, took the chequered flag for a record-equalling fourth German Grand Prix win, ahead of his Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

"I've never had a race like this," he said.

"After racing for so many years you never know when you're going to have a better race than your best race, but this is right there with them."

It was the 66th win of his F1 career and minutes after the finish, the heavens opened with an array of thunder and lightning and a fierce downpour that would have stopped any race.

"Miracles do happen, mate," Hamilton's race engineer Pete Bonnington told him over the radio after a slow-burner that turned into one of the great comebacks of the Briton's already stellar career.

Hamilton, who threw himself across the pitlane wall into the arms of his mechanics and also got a bear-hug from delighted Mercedes-Benz boss Dieter Zetsche, seemed about as stunned as anyone.

"The rain has come down and washed away all the negativity and its a glorious day," Hamilton said, his voice wobbling. "It couldn't be a better day."

Beaten by Vettel in his home British Grand Prix at Silverstone two weeks ago, where he went from pole to the back of the field and up to second, he had turned the tables completely.

"Love conquers all," he declared, a possible reference to a defiant message he had posted on Instagram after his car broke down in Saturday's qualifying.

"It's obviously very, very difficult from that position and highly unlikely but you've always got to believe," added the four times champion, who said a long prayer before the race started.

"I really manifested my dream today."

For Vettel, it was simply a nightmare — the chance to make big gains slipping through his hands in an instant. He now has 171 points to Hamilton's 188.

He pummelled the steering wheel angrily after the car crumpled against the tyre wall, the lap 52 incident bringing out the safety car.

"I had it in my hands — small mistake, big disappointment," said the German.

"It was just one of those moments. It was my mistake so apologies to the team. They did everything right."

Hamilton, who was already up to fifth after 14 laps, had made his first set of soft tyres last for 42 laps, but pitted before the rain came and went to ultrasofts.

Max Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull with Nico Hulkenberg fifth for Renault.

Romain Grosjean took sixth for Haas ahead of Mexican Sergio Perez and Frenchman Esteban Ocon for Force India in seventh and eighth.

Sweden's Marcus Ericsson put Sauber in the points with ninth and New Zealander Brendon Hatley was 10th for Toro Rosso.

AMMAN — Mohammad Al Wadi has reached his final at the Ukraine International Boxing Championships taking place in Odessa, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Al Wadi beat the host nation’s Miroslav Rastislav for his shot at the 56kg gold medal against Nicolai Valdir, of Belarus. Meanwhile, teammate Hussein Ishaish has settled for bronze in the +91kg weight after losing his semifinal bout.

HOCKENHEIM, Germany — Formula One leader Sebastian Vettel put Ferrari on pole position for his home German Grand Prix on Saturday after title rival Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes broke down on track in dramatic fashion.

The pole, in a track record time of one minute 11.212 seconds, drew a huge roar from the crowd on a damp day at Hockenheim.

"It was amazing to see so many red flags, German flags, so much support around the track," said the four-times world champion, who has yet to win a Grand Prix at the circuit nearest to where he grew up.

His only previous German victory was at the Nuerburgring in 2013 but he will be the clear favourite on Sunday to extend his overall lead in the championship.

"It just kept getting better and better, and I knew in the last lap I had more in me and I was able to squeeze everything out," Vettel said of his lap.

Reigning champion Hamilton's Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas will start alongside Vettel on the front row, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen third and Red Bull's Max Verstappen fourth on the grid.

Bottas had briefly held the provisional pole before Vettel's final effort secured the German a 55th career top starting slot.

Hamilton, also a four-times champion and eight points behind Vettel, qualified 14th — assuming he does not need a new gearbox — after being sidelined by a hydraulics problem.

The Briton tried in vain to push the stricken car back to the pits, with the help of some marshals, before then crouching in some distress next to it after it had been wheeled off.

"I didn't really understand exactly what had happened so in my mind I was thinking get the car back to the track, but they asked me to turn the car off," said Hamilton, his dreams of a record-equalling fourth German GP win seemingly in tatters.

"I jumped out and wanted to push it back but it was so far to go.

"I saw there was leaking oil and I knew that I had to stop and let them put the car away somewhere. I have the will to not want to give up. I just want to keep pushing."

Steering worry

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said the car could have been damaged jumping over a kerb. Hamilton felt the problem was evident before then, however.

"You use the kerb the same every lap. Just before the kerb I think the steering broke so I think that's the issue," he told Sky Sports television.

"This is one of the worst tracks for overtaking, so I'll do what I can from there."

Denmark's Kevin Magnussen made the most of Hamilton's absence from the final phase by putting his Ferrari-powered Haas into fifth place with French team mate Romain Grosjean sixth.

Renault's pairing of Nico Hulkenberg, the only German driver other than Vettel, and Spaniard Carlos Sainz were seventh and eighth.

Sauber's Monegasque rookie Charles Leclerc produced another fine performance with ninth on the grid for the Swiss team, ahead of Mexican Sergio Perez in 10th for Force India.

The session was red-flagged for nine minutes in the second phase after Leclerc's Swedish team mate Marcus Ericsson went off, sending a shower of gravel across the track.

McLaren's Fernando Alonso qualified 11th but Belgian teammate Stoffel Vandoorne was last.

L’ALPE D’HUEZ, France — Geraint Thomas became the first man to win up l’Alpe d’Huez with the yellow jersey on his shoulders on Thursday, as he extended his Tour de France overall lead amid unsavoury scenes while sparking fresh questions about the Team Sky leadership.

Thomas, who took the yellow jersey when he won Wednesday’s 11th stage, prevailed again in a dramatic 12th at top of the 21-hair-pinned climb, one of the most iconic of the Tour.

On the mountain where disgraced Lance Armstrong won a time trial in yellow in 2004 before being disqualified for doping, Welshman Thomas found himself heavily booed by the crowd at the podium ceremony.

His Team Sky leader, fellow Briton and reigning champion Chris Froome, who finished fourth, was also jeered all the way up the famous ascent.

Thomas accelerated in the last stretch to beat Dutchman Tom Dumoulin and France’s Romain Bardet who were second and third, two and three seconds behind respectively. Froome, booed on the run-in, was also three seconds off the pace.

Sky have been hugely unpopular in France after doping allegations have been repeatedly made during Froome’s triumphant rides on the Tour.

Froome was cleared of a doping offence after testing positive for excessive levels of an anti-asthmatic drug during last year’s Vuelta.

It has not abated the French public’s anger towards the Briton, who already had urine thrown at him during the 2015 Tour.

“Honestly I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say. Not a chance in hell I thought I was going to win today. I just followed Dumoulin and Bardet,” said a dumbfounded Thomas.

He kept his cool as attacks came from Vincenzo Nibali, Bardet and Nairo Quintana, who slipped further down the rankings after being dropped in the second part of the ascent.

Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk, who was a threat in the general classification, opened up a six-minute lead with an early attack but Sky never panicked and their Colombian prodigy Egan Bernal did an awe-inspiring job on the final ascent to rein in the Lotto-Jumbo NL rider.

“I can be happy for sure now. Maybe I can keep the yellow jersey for the next few days, but this race is so hard. You never know how the body reacts,” added Thomas.

Champion Froome was constantly jeered on the last stretch, a 13.8-km effort on an average gradient of 7.9 per cent, with one spectator hitting him on the shoulder.

“Obviously it’s not nice [the boos] but everyone is entitled to their opinion, but we need to be safe. You can boo, be vocal, but don’t affect the race,” said Thomas.

Overall, Thomas now leads Froome by one minute 39 seconds and Dumoulin by 1:50.

Former champion Vincenzo Nibali crashed with about four kilometres left and ended seventh, 13 seconds off the pace.

“There were two police motorbikes and the road became narrow, there were no barriers and Froome attacked, traffic slowed down and I fell. My back hurts. I had trouble breathing and now I don’t feel well standing,” said the Italian.

Thomas, who did not respond to Froome’s initial attack, said on Wednesday the four-time champion remained the team leader, but he appeared to be the strongest rider at l’Alpe d’Huez.

“In my eyes, Froomey is still our leader,” said Thomas.

The sprinters’ field was ravaged after stage winners Fernando Gaviria and Dylan Groenewegen, as well as Andre Greipel, abandoned exhausted after a demanding opening block of racing in extreme heat.

AMMAN — With one month to go, Jordan’s top boxers have declared themselves fit and ready for an assault on the medals at the 18th Asian Games being held in Indonesia from August 18 until September 3, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The team departed this week for a training camp in Ukraine until July 22 with Ziad Ishaish, Obadah Al Kesbeh and Mohammad Al Wadi all looking in great shape.

There was some bad news for Jordan though with the super heavyweight category dropped from the final programme, meaning that Olympian, Hussein Ishaish, will not be competing.

However, the team is confident and head coach Azeddine Aggoune pointed out the importance of the Ukraine camp before competing in southeast Asia.

“We started our training programme for Indonesia a long time ago by competing in various international championships, and we also held a camp in Cuba,” he said.

“The Asian Games attracts some of the best fighters in the world so we can expect the highest calibre of opponents over there. This means we need to prepare as if it is a World Championships or an Olympics and Ukraine should give us that sharper edge.”

Aggoune was ringside when Hussein Ishaish and Al Kesbeh competed at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro two years ago, and he believes that his current crop can add to the four medals already won by Jordanian boxers at the Asian Games since 1998.

Mohammad Abu Khadejah won Jordan’s first, bronze 20 years ago, while, at Incheon 2014, Udai Hindawi won silver and Ihab Darweesh and Kesbeh took bronze medals.

LA ROSIERE, France — Thomas claimed the stage win and the race leader's yellow jersey on the Tour de France on Wednesday, with a powerful ride up the final climb of a gruelling 108km run from Albertville to La Rosière.

Team Sky's Thomas, who won the Criterium du Dauphine last month, attacked near the end of the 11th stage. The 2017 Giro champion Tom Dumoulin took second place, 20 seconds behind Thomas and just ahead of his Team Sky colleague and defending champion Chris Froome.

Among the race's other top contenders, France's Romain Bardet, Italian Vincenzo Nibali and Colombian Nairo Quintana crossed the line 59 seconds behind Thomas.

The Welshman attacked from the group of favourites with nine kilometres left of the 17.6-km ascent at an average gradient of 5.8 per cent to La Rosiere, and caught Dumoulin, who had attacked earlier.

The Dutchman could not sustain the pace of Thomas, who also caught and then left in his wake the Spaniard Mikel Nieve, the last survivor of the day's breakaway.

"I just felt good today, I followed my instincts," said Thomas, who now leads Froome by one minute 25 seconds and third-placed Dumoulin by 1:44.

Several top contenders sustained heavy losses. Spain's Alejandro Valverde, who was on the attack in the final climb, finished 3:30 off the pace, and Britain's Adam Yates crossed the line 4:42 behind.

Last year's runner-up Rigoberto Uran finished 26:07 down, killing off any hopes he may have had of a podium finish.

Thursday's 12th stage is likely to see the favourites battle it out for yellow again with a summit finish on the iconic Alpe d'Huez.

After the first mountain stage on Tuesday, Froome welcomed his rivals' lack of aggression, as he stayed firmly on course for a record-equalling fifth Tour de France title .

The 10th stage followed Sunday's punishing cobbled ride to Roubaix and Monday's rest day and, with a long descent to the finish, none of the top guns were in the mood to risk a long-range attack.

For Froome, the 158.5-km trek from Annecy was one day ticked off his to-do list as the Briton remained in a perfect position to become the first rider in 20 years to achieve a Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double.

"We couldn't have asked for much more, really. It was pretty steady," said Froome, whose climbing abilities should do the talking in the coming days.

A final time trial on the eve of the Champs Elysees parade should also help him gain time on his rivals, with the exception of Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, who is 3:42 off the pace in 11th.

"We were pretty happy to have the numbers up front. For the first big mountain day I think the guys really showed exactly what we've been training for," Froome added.

"I'm feeling pretty good."

Among Froome's rivals, the Movistar team — with three potential winners in Valverde, Nairo Quintana and Mikel Landa — did not even try to unsettle the four-time champion in yet another demonstration of their conservative tactics.

"Everyone's got their own gameplan. Other people are probably also thinking about these next hard days coming up," said Froome.

"No one really showed all their cards today. Everyone I think played it a little conservatively maybe thinking about the next two days to come, which are going to be hard as well."

Dumoulin, the 2017 Giro champion, refused to see the day as a lost opportunity to shake Team Sky, the dominant force in the peloton. "It's only the first mountain stage," he told Reuters.

That stage, however, was fatal to last year's runner-up Colombian Rigoberto Uran, who lost over two minutes just two days after losing ground following a crash on the cobbles.

"He's pretty sore after crashing two times on the cobbles," his EF Education First-Drapac sports director Charly Wegelius said. "He did what he could to limit the damage but unfortunately it's the way sport goes. It's a brutal sport."

TURIN, Italy — Juventus’s record signing Cristiano Ronaldo has said his move from Real Madrid was a “well thought out decision” as the Portugal forward aims to help his new club win their first Champions League title in more than two decades.

Ronaldo, who joined the Italian champions last week on a four-year contract for 100 million euros ($117.07 million), added that he did not want to stay in his comfort zone after winning three straight European cups with Real.

The 33-year-old left Los Blancos as their all-time top scorer with 451 goals in all competitions and won two La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies over nine years.

“I’m a person who likes to think about the present,” he told a news conference on Monday. “I’m still very young and I always liked the challenges, from Sporting to Manchester [United] to Real [Madrid] and now Juventus.

“It was a well thought-out decision. It is the best club in Italy. It has an outstanding manager [Massimiliano Allegri] and coaches so it was not a difficult decision to take.”

“I am very ambitious and I like new challenges. I hope everything will go very well. Luck always helps but you have to look for it.”

Ronaldo said he was grateful for the opportunity to represent Juventus, admitting players of his age usually settle for a move to less competitive leagues in Qatar or China.

“Usually players think their careers are over when they are 33. But I don’t feel that at all,” he said, adding that this showed he was “different from the others”.

“[Juve] is a big club and usually players of my age go to Qatar or to China, with all due respect, so coming to such an important and great club at this stage in my career makes me very happy.”

Ronaldo said one of the factors in joining Juve was the standing ovation given to him by the Turin club’s fans on his last visit, when he scored an astonishing overhead kick for Real in the Champions League quarter-finals.

“It was a really stunning moment for me,” he added. “Being welcomed this way is so rewarding. It increases your motivation to start a new adventure.” 

The signing of the five-times world player of the year and Champions League top scorer for the last six seasons is a major coup for Juve, who have lifted the Serie A title for the last seven seasons but have not won Europe’s top prize since 1996.

“We are going to fight not only for the Champions League but for the Serie A title,” said Ronaldo. “We know competition will be tough but we must stay concentrated. 

“I hope I can help Juventus win it [the Champions League]. They couldn’t win [last year] because even when you get to the final nothing is written. I hope I can be the lucky star of this club but we will see what happens.”

Ronaldo scored twice when Real beat Juventus 4-1 in the 2017 Champions League final in between triumphs over Atletico Madrid and Liverpool in Europe’s elite club competition.

The Portugal’s captain took his goalscoring form to the World Cup in Russia and netted four times, but failed to lead the European champions beyond the last-16 stage.

Ronaldo said he would start training with Juve on July 30 and hoped to feature in the opening match of their title defence in August. The fixtures will be announced later this month.

MOSCOW — A thrilling World Cup came to its conclusion as France beat Croatia in last night’s final in Moscow, but there have been plenty of unusual incidents on the pitch and on the sidelines in Russia.

Here, AFP Sport looks at the best offbeat stories from the 2018 World Cup:

Maradona’s two-fingered salute

Diego Maradona will always be remembered as one of the greatest players of all-time for his exploits in 1986, but he became an increasing attraction for ridicule in Russia.

The 58-year-old made an obscene gesture from the VIP box to celebrate Argentina’s dramatic 2-1 win over Nigeria, which sent it into the last 16, drawing plenty of criticism.

He still managed to keep himself in the limelight even after his country’s exit at the hands of France, claiming that he would turn the team’s fortunes around if named coach, and then being rebuked by FIFA after ranting about the officials following Colombia’s loss to England.

Swiss double eagles

A politically-charged group match between Switzerland and Serbia saw Swiss pair Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka fined by FIFA for celebrating their goals by making a pro-Kosovan “double eagle” gesture which represents the Albanian flag.

Arsenal midfielder Xhaka and Liverpool’s Shaqiri trace their roots to Kosovo, a former province of Serbia where thousands were killed and tens of thousands more chased from their homes during a 1998-1999 conflict between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian guerillas.

Anything Diego can do, Robbie Williams can too

The tournament kicked off with Russia’s 5-0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia, but it was former Take That star Robbie Williams who grabbed headlines for showing his middle finger to a TV camera during his opening-ceremony performance.

No one is quite sure why the Englishman was so irate, especially considering he was invited to perform despite previously causing outrage in Russia with his song “Party Like a Russian”.

Neymar theatrics

Neymar dominated plenty of the World Cup build-up with his fight to overcome a foot injury, but it was his feigning of injury that saw him become the butt of many jokes.

The Brazilian star showed plenty of his talent, scoring twice as the five-time champions reached the quarter-finals, but consistently play-acted in apparent attempts to have opponents booked or sent off, even having a dive to win a penalty overturned by VAR.

Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio labelled the Paris Saint-Germain forward’s antics in his team’s last-16 loss to Brazil a “shame for football”.

Photographer’s professionalism

AFP photographer Yuri Cortez found himself literally at the centre of Croatia’s celebrations after their winning goal in the semifinal against England, but kept his cool to snap away.

Croatian goalscoring hero Mario Mandzukic helped Cortez to his feet after he became engulfed by the players, while centreback Domagoj Vida even gave him a kiss on the cheek.

AMMAN — Jordan finished with three medals, including two gold, at the 15th AKF Senior Karate Championships held in Amman over the past three days, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service. 

Bashar Al Najjar (-75kg) and Abdulrahman Al Masatfah (-68kg) delighted the big home crowds with gold medals, while Mahmoud Al Sajjan (-84kg) settled for a silver medal.

The closing ceremony was attended by HRH Prince Hassan, president of the Self-Defence Higher Council. The event welcomed over 300 players representing 29 countries with Jordan being praised for putting on a memorable event that was welcomed by the international community.