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Doha (AFP)The Jordanian national team stands on the verge of achieving a historic achievement by reaching the semi-finals of the Asian Football Cup in Qatar, when it meets Tajikistan on Friday at the start of the quarter-finals, which will witness a fiery confrontation between South Korea and Australia.
At Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium, Al-Hussein Amouta, the coach of the “Nashama” team, will rely on the high morale gained by his players after the exciting victory over Iraq 3-2 in the round of 16, and Jordan reached the quarter-finals for the third time in its history, after the 2004 edition in China under the leadership of the Egyptian coach. The late Mahmoud Al-Gohary and Qatar 2011, led by Iraqi coach Adnan Hamad, which is the best achievement for Jordanian football.
Amouta is armed with the effectiveness of his offensive line, which consists of the trio Musa Al-Taamari, Yazan Al-Naimat and Ali Alwan, but he may face great difficulties in front of the Tajik national team’s defense, which has conceded 3 goals in 4 matches.
Amouta touched on the match in the press conference on the eve of the match, saying, “An important match for us, which separates us from the semi-finals, is a match that will not be easy. We faced the Tajik national team a while ago and tied with them. Preparations are going well, morale is high among the players, and we must pay attention to the details,” and he concluded, “ I have great confidence in the group to perform well to allow us to reach the semi-finals.”
Musa Al-Taamari, a professional for the French club Montpellier, and Mahmoud Mardi, a player for Al-Hussein Irbid, each scored two goals in the opening match against Malaysia, but both of them refrained from scoring in three consecutive matches (Al-Taamari missed the match against Bahrain completely). This witnessed the brilliance of Yazan Al-Naimat, a professional for the Qatari club Al-Ahly, by scoring two goals. Against South Korea and Iraq.
Nizar Al-Rashdan will be the most prominent absentee in the Jordanian ranks due to the accumulation of warnings, as he received the second yellow card, after celebrating scoring the winning goal against Iraq in stoppage time, and striker Hamza Al-Dardour, the best scorer in the history of the Jordanian national team (35), will also be absent after the technical staff decided to exclude him. Due to violating internal controls and instructions, he appeared to push members of the technical staff in the last match.
Jordan qualified for the quarter-finals after coming third in Group Five with 4 points, behind Bahrain with 6 points, and South Korea with 5 points, before surpassing Iraq 3-2 in the round of 16.
On the other hand, the Tajikistan national team is considered the dark horse in the tournament after skipping the first round, then achieving a huge surprise after eliminating its Emirati counterpart on penalties 5-3 after a 1-1 draw. Reaching the quarter-finals is considered a major achievement for the Tajikistan national team, which is participating in the Cup finals. Asia for the first time in its history, and its only continental achievement is winning the Asian Challenge Cup in 2006.
Croatian Petar Shigert, coach of the Tajikistan national team, aspires to continue his adventure and reach the semi-finals, relying on the brilliance of the trio, Wahidat Azmatwit, Nurdin Khamrokulov, and Parvizdzhon Omarbayev, each of whom scored a goal in the current tournament.
The Tajikistan national team qualified for the round of 16 by finishing second in Group A with 4 points, behind leaders Qatar (9), and ahead of China and Lebanon.
The Jordanian and Tajik teams last met two and a half months ago in Dushanbe at the opening of their journey in the joint Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup scheduled for the United States, Canada and Mexico and the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia, where the confrontation ended in a 1-1 draw.
Before that, the Jordanian national team excelled in confrontations with its Tajik counterpart, with three victories and a neutral loss. -
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#History #Nashama. #semifinals #Jordan
