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Jordan Times, Jordan
March 25 2005
National football team leave for friendly in Cyprus
Jordan's FIFA ranking drops to 42
By a staff reporter
AMMAN - The national football team left for Cyprus on Thursday ahead of
Saturday's friendly match against the Cypriot national team in Larnaca.
The lineup for the Cyprus match will miss Faisali's players, due to
their participation in the Arab and Asian championships, as well as
professional players Hassouneh Sheikh and Bashar Bani Yasin, both
playing in Bahrain.
Jordan will play Iraq on June 9 and Qatar on Nov. 16, while the Jordan
Football Association (JFA) also confirmed two matches against the
Armenian national team in Amman, on Aug. 17, and in Yerevan, Armenia,
on Oct. 6.
Meanwhile, Jordan's FIFA world ranking dropped one place to 42nd
from the highest ever of 37th in August 2004, compared to 96th in
August 2002.
In the latest rankings, headed by Brazil, France and Argentina,
Jordan is still 5th among Arab countries in the rankings (behind Saudi
Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia) and 5th in Asia (behind Japan,
Iran, South Korea and Saudi Arabia).
Jordan's ranking shot up around 100 spots in two years after reaching
the 2004 Asian Cup finals for the first time in the event's 49-year
history and maintaining a good showing in the first leg of the 2006
World Cup qualifiers.
The national team was revamped at the beginning of the year following
an assessment of Jordanian football in the past two years after
Jordan's elimination from the first round of the World Cup qualifiers
as well as the finals of the Asian Cup in 2004.
The match in Cyprus will be the second one after head coach Mahmoud Al
Johary revamped the lineup, dropping well-known faces and replacing
them by younger players, mostly under 25 years of age with the hope
that they would have the consistency and competitive form when Jordan
next plays in the Asian Cup qualifiers early next year.
The revamped team held Norway to a goalless draw in a friendly match
in Amman, proceeds of which were donated by the JFA to support victims
of the Dec. 26 devastating tsunami that ravaged Southeast Asia killing
over 280,000.
Hoping for long-term results, Johary made clear that many well-known
names were dropped as they were no longer performing as expected,
including veterans who no longer displayed the fighting spirit,
and being replaced by not so well-known faces that made their mark
in the Premier League Championship.
Those dropped were team captain Abdullah Abu Zame'h, Mouayyad Salim,
Haitham Shboul, Rateb Awadat and Amer Deeb.
Johary told the press that the new lineup intended to have a median
age of 26 by 2007, adding that the list was by no means final.
"We will continue to assess and reassess and only the best will stay,"
Johary said, adding that the final lineup will be announced in December
prior to the Asian qualifiers in February 2006.
March 25 2005
National football team leave for friendly in Cyprus
Jordan's FIFA ranking drops to 42
By a staff reporter
AMMAN - The national football team left for Cyprus on Thursday ahead of
Saturday's friendly match against the Cypriot national team in Larnaca.
The lineup for the Cyprus match will miss Faisali's players, due to
their participation in the Arab and Asian championships, as well as
professional players Hassouneh Sheikh and Bashar Bani Yasin, both
playing in Bahrain.
Jordan will play Iraq on June 9 and Qatar on Nov. 16, while the Jordan
Football Association (JFA) also confirmed two matches against the
Armenian national team in Amman, on Aug. 17, and in Yerevan, Armenia,
on Oct. 6.
Meanwhile, Jordan's FIFA world ranking dropped one place to 42nd
from the highest ever of 37th in August 2004, compared to 96th in
August 2002.
In the latest rankings, headed by Brazil, France and Argentina,
Jordan is still 5th among Arab countries in the rankings (behind Saudi
Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia) and 5th in Asia (behind Japan,
Iran, South Korea and Saudi Arabia).
Jordan's ranking shot up around 100 spots in two years after reaching
the 2004 Asian Cup finals for the first time in the event's 49-year
history and maintaining a good showing in the first leg of the 2006
World Cup qualifiers.
The national team was revamped at the beginning of the year following
an assessment of Jordanian football in the past two years after
Jordan's elimination from the first round of the World Cup qualifiers
as well as the finals of the Asian Cup in 2004.
The match in Cyprus will be the second one after head coach Mahmoud Al
Johary revamped the lineup, dropping well-known faces and replacing
them by younger players, mostly under 25 years of age with the hope
that they would have the consistency and competitive form when Jordan
next plays in the Asian Cup qualifiers early next year.
The revamped team held Norway to a goalless draw in a friendly match
in Amman, proceeds of which were donated by the JFA to support victims
of the Dec. 26 devastating tsunami that ravaged Southeast Asia killing
over 280,000.
Hoping for long-term results, Johary made clear that many well-known
names were dropped as they were no longer performing as expected,
including veterans who no longer displayed the fighting spirit,
and being replaced by not so well-known faces that made their mark
in the Premier League Championship.
Those dropped were team captain Abdullah Abu Zame'h, Mouayyad Salim,
Haitham Shboul, Rateb Awadat and Amer Deeb.
Johary told the press that the new lineup intended to have a median
age of 26 by 2007, adding that the list was by no means final.
"We will continue to assess and reassess and only the best will stay,"
Johary said, adding that the final lineup will be announced in December
prior to the Asian qualifiers in February 2006.