Amman Jordanian football enters a double Asian date tomorrow, as Al-Faisaly and Al-Hussein Irbid open their campaigns in the AFC Champions League Two, with two matches carrying considerable challenge and ambition, as Al-Faisaly faces Qatar's Al-Rayyan, while Al-Hussein Irbid hosts India's East Bengal, at the start of group stage competition.
اضافة اعلان
While history does not favor Al-Faisaly against Qatari clubs, the picture looks completely different when it comes to Jordan-India matchups, which gives tomorrow's two matches different sets of considerations, between Al-Faisaly's desire to break a historic Qatari advantage, and Al-Hussein Irbid's ambition to continue Jordanian superiority against Indian clubs.
Previous encounters between Jordanian and Qatari clubs reveal a clear advantage for the Qatari teams, as the two sides have met in 10 Asian matches, with Jordanian clubs achieving 3 wins compared to 7 Qatari wins, while draws were absent from all the matchups.
Jordanian clubs scored 13 goals, compared to 24 goals conceded, a difference of 11 goals in favor of the Qatari clubs, reflecting the difficulty of previous tests and putting Al-Faisaly in front of a new task to adjust this balance.
Despite that, the record holds some notable Jordanian memories, most prominently Al-Wehdat's success in beating Al-Sadd twice, 3-0 and 3-1, alongside Al-Faisaly's win over Al-Sadd by 2-0, results that confirm Jordanian clubs have previously succeeded in competing against Qatari clubs and achieving notable wins.
On the other hand, the record has also seen some heavy results, most notably Al-Faisaly's 0-6 loss to Al-Sadd, and Al-Wehdat's two losses to Al-Rayyan by 2-4 and 0-3, in addition to three other losses to Al-Sadd, while Al-Hussein Irbid lost to Qatar's Al-Ahli by 1-3.
On the other side, the picture looks much brighter for Jordanian football against Indian clubs, as Jordanian teams have met their Indian counterparts in 13 matches, achieving 10 wins compared to 3 losses, with no draws recorded at all.
Jordanian clubs scored 35 goals, compared to 14 goals conceded, a difference of 21 goals, a tally reflecting clear Jordanian football superiority in direct matchups.
East Bengal specifically carries mixed memories against Jordanian clubs, as Al-Faisaly has previously beaten them twice, the first 5-0 and the second 1-0, while Al-Wehdat beat them 4-2, against one loss for Al-Wehdat to them by 0-2.
Al-Wehdat also recorded big results against Mohun Bagan, winning 2-1 and 5-0, against Salgaocar by 5-0 and 2-1, and against Bengaluru by 2-1.
As for Al-Hussein Irbid, it holds a perfect record against Dempo, having beaten them in two matchups by 3-0 and 2-0.
Jordan's three losses came against Dempo, where Al-Faisaly lost 3-4 and 1-3, while Al-Wehdat lost to East Bengal by 0-2.
These numbers give Al-Faisaly and Al-Hussein Irbid two different pictures ahead of their matches: Al-Faisaly enters its match against Al-Rayyan needing to overcome a historic Qatari advantage, while Al-Hussein Irbid enters its meeting with East Bengal carrying a clear Jordanian superiority in the record of matchups against Indian clubs.
But historical calculations, despite their importance in giving players confidence and motivation, do not decide matches, especially since every match starts from zero and imposes its own particular technical and psychological conditions.
Resource: Al-Ghad. Reporting: Yahya Qutaishat
