Amman — Al-Hussein Irbid enters its match against India's East Bengal at 7:00 PM today at Amman International Stadium, with the ambition of opening a new chapter and restoring confidence, as it begins its group-stage campaign in the AFC Champions League Two football tournament, in a match through which it looks to make up for a series of unsatisfactory results both domestically and continentally.
اضافة اعلان
Al-Hussein is looking for a strong start in Group Four, which also includes India's East Bengal, Iraq's Al-Shorta, and Oman's Al-Seeb, aware of the importance of collecting points from the outset, especially since competition among the four teams for the two qualifying spots to the next round appears wide open.
The match comes at a sensitive time for Al-Hussein, whose start to the current season has not matched expectations, after a scoreless draw against Al-Baqa'a in the second round of the Pro League, following a heavy defeat against Al-Jazeera, before the club decided to end its association with head coach Ahmad Hayel and appoint Bashar Bani Yasin to lead the team on a temporary basis.
The team had earlier suffered an Asian setback, being eliminated from the qualifying playoff for the AFC Champions League Elite after losing 3-0 to Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor, which increases the importance of appearing in a different light in the second-tier Asian tournament, and turning continental participation into an opportunity to restore balance and confidence.
The match carries double significance for Al-Hussein, not only as the opening of its campaign in the tournament, but also as an opportunity to restore its relationship with its fans, who are waiting for the team to respond strongly after a rocky start, and to turn the Asian challenge into a fresh starting point for the season.
Al-Hussein is treating the match as more than just the opening of the group stage, since a win would serve as a major morale boost for the team going forward, while a setback would put it under pressure over results once again, especially with domestic fixtures approaching and the search for a new head coach still ongoing.
Attention turns to Al-Hussein's ability to capitalize on home advantage and its fans, and to impose its style from the outset, against an Indian team with good attacking players, where a balanced start, defensive caution, and effectiveness in front of goal will be among the key factors for the Jordanian team in achieving the result it's after.
The team is relying, in its technical selections, on: Yazeed Abu Laila, Youssef Abu Al-Jazar, Abdullah Nassib "Diara," Pedro Henrique, Ali Hijabi, Mahmoud Shawkat, Youssef Qeshi, Aref Al-Hajj, Mahmoud Marzi, Mahmoud Khroubeh, and Brayan Riascos.
Al-Hussein head coach Bashar Bani Yasin, during yesterday's press conference, expressed his confidence in the team's players to present a different picture from the recent period, affirming that the atmosphere within the team is positive toward achieving a result that restores fans' confidence.
Bani Yasin: We're Entering the Match with a Champion's Mentality
Bani Yasin noted that the team would regain the services of Marzi, after he felt pain and suffered a minor injury recently and was rested during league play, explaining that the team is not suffering from any absences, though some of its new players had recently struggled under the weight of the pressure placed on them.
He added during yesterday's press conference: "We're entering the match with a champion's mentality, because I have great confidence in the players given the experience many of them have, and I'm not currently thinking about my future as a coach with the team under the new technical staff, but rather focused on facing East Bengal and Shabab Al-Ordon."
For his part, defender Abdullah Nassib noted that he and his teammates recognize the importance of this match, especially since it's a tournament in which Al-Hussein has delivered excellent performances in its last two participations, affirming that the team is capable of restoring its level after a recent decline in results and performance.
"Diara" attributed Al-Hussein's recent lack of strong form to changes in the starting lineup compared to last season, affirming that the match against East Bengal would be the gateway back, with all players proving they deserve to wear the team's jersey.
On the other side, East Bengal arrives in Amman aware of the difficulty of the task against the reigning Jordanian league champions, but with clear ambitions to compete for one of the two qualifying spots.
The Indian team succeeded in reaching the group stage after overcoming Maldives' Ola FC 4-1 in the qualifiers and enters the match under the leadership of Spanish coach Antonio López Habas, with the team's star player, Palestinian player Mohammed Bassam.
The match will be officiated by a Lebanese refereeing crew consisting of: referee Sheikh Ahmad Alaa Eddine, first assistant Ali Miqdad, second assistant Ahmad Al-Husseini, and fourth official Ali Al-Ashqar.
Resource: Al-Ghad. Reporting: Muhannad Jweiles
