Sports

Real Madrid’s magical midfielder Isco has finally found his place in Zinedine Zidane’s side as he tries to drive them towards a La Liga and Champions League double.

Isco set up Cristiano Ronaldo’s second-minute goal against Malaga on Sunday as Madrid won 2-0 to earn the Spanish title.

After months of uncertainty over his future and reports that he was considering leaving after failing to start on a regular basis, the tide has turned at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Gareth Bale’s injury problems prompted Zidane to shuffle his pack and Isco has been the winner of the situation, with the coach shifting to a 4-4-2 formation.

Isco plays as an attacking midfielder at the tip of a central diamond, his ideal position. The new set-up has helped Madrid win their first title since 2012 and reach the Champions League final against Juventus.

“Do not worry the fans of Real Madrid. I will stay,” Isco told reporters on Sunday, ending uncertainty over his future.

“Yes, [the situation] was complicated at first, but I have remained strong psychologically and I have received the support of everyone.”

Isco has been a key part of Madrid’s form in the second half of the season, notching a total of 10 league goals in 30 appearances, just 18 of them starts.

Madrid supporters have been fond of Isco since he joined from Malaga in 2013 and he was delighted to win the title in the Spanish capital, which he feels has become his home.

“It’s been some time coming, but it’s a dream come true to have won the title here, with my family and friends in my city,” Isco added. “I’ll be forever grateful for the affection they’ve shown me. It’s a very sweet moment and you have to enjoy it.”

Isco’s performance against his former team helped Madrid keep the Andalusians at bay and his connection with Ronaldo has inspired the side in the last few months.

Although Bale is expected to be fit for the Champions League final, Zidane may opt to stick with his new formation instead of accommodating the Welshman in Cardiff by reverting to the 4-3-3.

Spanish newspaper Marca conducted a poll on May 12 in which only 28 per cent of 33,000 voters preferred Bale to start on June 3 over Isco (72 per cent).

Although Zidane may feel pressure to start Madrid’s record signing in his homeland, on merit Isco deserves the chance to try and help the club win their 12th Champions League trophy.

AMMAN — Shareif Al Atawneh has stunned the Asian athletics scene by winning gold in the 3,000m at the Asian Youth Athletics Championship taking place in Bangkok, Thailand, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The 17-year-old led the field home in a time of 8:35.49 minutes, smashing the previous Jordan record of 8:53 set by Ra’fat Al Zboun.

The win secures Atawneh a place at the World Youth Championships to be held in Kenya.

He will join teammate Alya Bushnaq at the Worlds after she qualified to the finals of the 100m and 400m races, but missed out on the top three places.

AMMAN — The Jordan Cup semifinals ended on Saturday with Faisali and Jazira beating rivals for a place in the May 24 final. Faisali drew 0-0 with Wihdat, but went through on an aggregated score of 2-0. Jazira overcame Ramtha 1-0, and went through with an aggregated score of 2-0.

AMMAN — Ra’fat Haroun on Friday was crowned champion of the third round of the Jordan Drift Championship held at SOFEX Racetrack in Marka.

Haroun beat the 29 strong field with 391 points in his Toyota GT 36 followed by Mohammed Kukhen with 386 points in his BMW i30 and Mohammed Foqaha in third place with 380 points in his BMW i30.

Omar Kukhen settled in fourth place with 378 points in his BMW i30.

Haroun was also the winner of the second round.

Drivers were judged according to speed, angle and perfect track line (90 points), showmanship (5 points) and smoking tyres (5 points).

AMMAN — The Jordan Cup semifinals end on Saturday with four teams in contention for the final title of the season.

Faisali seek to repeat their win over rivals Wihdat whom they beat 2-0 last week. Jazira, who were favoured to win the league, settled for second and now aim to reach the final. Jazira overcame Ramtha 1-0 in the first leg of the semifinals and now have an advantage to play in the May 24 final.

With no Division 1 teams playing this year, teams were split into two groups with top two teams from each group making it to the semis: Ramtha and Faisali booked top spots from Group A edging their rivals with ease as holders Ahli finished third followed by Sahab, Manshieh and Baqa’a. In Group B, Wihdat and Jazira ousted Hussein Irbid, Shabab Urdun, Hussein and That Ras. 

This season, Faisali won the Jordan Professional Football League title for a record 33rd time after a four year break with Jazira finishing second and Wihdat third. Ahli won the first major competition on the 2016/17 football calendar when they beat Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup. In the Jordan Football Association Shield, Shabab Urdun scored a major 5-1 win over Faisali to win their second Shield title after they first won in 2007.

Regionally, Wihdat have technically exited the Round of 16 of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup after they also exited the Asian Champions League earlier in the season. After losing the chance to win their fourth consecutive and 16th overall league title last week, Wihdat’s head coach Adnan Hamad resigned and the team went down 4-1 to Syria’s Wihdeh in the first leg. Ahli, playing in the AFC Cup for the first time, finished third in AFC Cup Group A and were eliminated from the first round.

Last season, Wihdat retained the league title for their third consecutive and 15th overall time since they moved up to the Professional League in 1975. Faisali beat Wihdat to clinch the Super Cup, while it was Ahli who made history when they beat Shabab Urdun to win their first Jordan Cup final. Ahli’s achievement came after years in the backstage. Despite being a long-time veteran and founder of the game in the Kingdom, Ahli were relegated to Division 1 in 2004, however, they made it back to the Pro League in 2014, finishing fifth in 2015 and third in 2016.

AMMAN — The third round of the Jordan Drift Championship kicks off on Friday with the participation of 23 drivers at SOFEX Racetrack in Marka.

The round which is held in celebration of the Kingdom’s Independence Day will see Hesham Issam and Abdullah Abu Hussein battle it out with 38 points each while the opportunity is clear and open for Mohammed Fuqaha, who is trailing with 36 points.

Ra’fat Haroun is in fourth place with 31 points and Othman Takriti in fifth place with 28 points.

Othman Naseef, Jordan Motorsport CEO told The Jordan Times that the door is open to a host of drivers to make the change in the standings.

“Drivers’ standings are close to each other and this will make it more exciting as anyone can reserve the first place and at the same time any mistake will have an impact on their results,” he said.

 “We hope that everyone will be able to watch this crucial round which will be very exciting and decisive too,” he added.

Drivers will be judged according to speed, angle and perfect track line (90 points), showmanship (5 points) and smoking tyres (5 points).

AMMAN — As 18 more coaches on Wednesday began their bids to become Level Two certified through the Jordan Olympic Committee’s National Coaching Certification Programme (NCCP), news from Baku can give them all confidence that they are on the right course, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC )News Service.

Jordan secured medals at the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games and the coaches of those successful are all Level Three NCCP qualified. It is reassuring news for the JOC who are investing heavily in time and resources to ensure that our athletes are nurtured by coaches equipped with the most up to date training techniques.

“Baku is proof that the NCCP course can help to make a difference in the way we are developing our athletes,” said Narin Hajtass, who co-ordinates the NCCP course at the JOC. “Coach Ali Al Nawaiseh [swimming] is a Level Three coach and also one of our facilitators for NCCP while both Shadi Najjar and Ibrahim Abu Aledam [karate] have come through Level Three.

These coaches, and many others, are tremendous ambassadors for the course and hopefully those that we are currently working with will also go on to train Jordanian Olympians and Champions.” Level two will include more advanced techniques along with a key module, titled ‘‘Make an Ethical Decision’’.

AMMAN — Following two tough trial matches, Jordan Rugby selectors have finalised the squad that will take on Saudi Arabia this Friday in an official test match, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The game kicks off at 4pm at the University of Petra pitch on Airport Road. Twenty-three players from all four Premier League sides have made the cut, with the Citadel’s Nart Kalimat named captain and the Saracens’ Ahmad Hamouqa his deputy.

Not surprisingly, the bulk of the side is made up from the dominant Citadel and Nomads clubs who stamped their authority on the 15s league this season. Abed Khlaifat from the Aqaba Sharks is also named in the squad.

“We had two testing matches which enabled us to run the rule over all of the players available and selection was not easy as the standard was very high and has definitely improved,” said head coach, Graeme Forbes.

“The match this Friday will provide us with the opportunity to see where we are at in terms of progress against what we expect to be a decent Saudi side.”

AMMAN — Jordan on Monday picked up a fourth medal at the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Following on from swimmer Khader Baqlah’s double gold in the pool, and Bashar Al Najjar’s karate gold in the 67kg weight, Halah Traish secured first glory for the girls with a bronze in karate.

Traish beat Pakistan’s Kulsoom 8-0 to secure the medal in the 68kg weight, having earlier lost her semifinal match to Turkey’s Eda Eltemur.

Jordan is guaranteed at least another bronze medal, this time in boxing, after Mohammed Al Wadi reached the semifinal of the 56kg weight with a brilliant victory over Kazakhstan’s Mirbek Sherov.

AMMAN — After a tough local season, and failing to win any local competition title, Wihdat have now set the 14th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup title as a priority.

The 2016 Jordan Professional Football League champs have advanced to the Round of 16 of the regional event and will now face Syria’s Wihdeh in Beirut on Tuesday in the two-leg West Asia zone semis. The winner will face the team advancing from the all-Iraqi encounter of Air Force and Zawra’a in the other semifinal with the winners advancing to the West Asia final on September 11 and 29 to decide the West Asia zone’s champ.

The West Asia zone champ will face the winner from the rest of the Asian zones on November 4 to decide the AFC Cup titlist with prize money set at $1 million for the champion and $500,000 for the runner-up. 

Should Wihdat win the zonal championship, they stand a good chance of winning the AFC Cup, a feat that eluded them after it was previously won three times by Jordanian teams: Faisali won in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun won  in 2007.

Wihdat are trying hard to put things back on track after what has been their most disappointing season in years. After combining all four local competitions in past seasons, and following three successive years at the helm, last season Wihdat settled for third in the league after they won the title for the 15th time since moving up to the Professional League in 1975. With the title of the Jordan Football Association Shield and Cup winners Cup eluding them, they also lost Leg 1 of the Jordan Cup as well. The team’s coach, Adnan Hamad, resigned this week after their 2-0 defeat to Faisali in the Jordan Cup semis.

Wihdat reached the AFC Cup West Asia zone semis after they topped group C, following their 3-2 win over Bahrain’s Muharraq. On their way to the round of 16, Wihdat held Lebanon’s Nijmeh and Muharraq and Oman’s Saham 1-1. They also beat Saham 2-1 and scored a 1-0 win over Nijmeh.

Representing Jordan in the AFC Cup for the first time, Jordan Cup titleholders Ahli finished third in the Group A after they were held 1-1 with Iraq’s Zawra’a. They earlier lost 2-1 and 1-0 to Syria’s. They beat Oman’s Suweiq 2-1 and were held 0-0. They also held Zawra’a 1-1.

Ahli started the season beating Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup . However, they struggled and finished 7th in the league and were eliminated from the Jordan Cup. 

It’s Wihdat’s 10th time in the competition after their ambitions of competing among top tier teams were dashed early when they were eliminated from the preliminary round of 2017 AFC Asian Champions League.