Jordan's U-20 national football team's qualification for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup finals, its tenth appearance in the tournament, wasn't a convincing one for a large segment of Jordanian football fans and observers, despite successfully securing its spot in the continental tournament following the conclusion of Group D of the Asian qualifiers.
اضافة اعلان
The national team qualified after finishing second in the group with 6 points, edging out Tajikistan, who topped the group, on head-to-head results, after Jordan lost 1-0 to Tajikistan in the final round.
Despite the loss, Jordan benefited from the result of the match between Afghanistan and Bahrain, which ended in an Afghan win, securing Jordan's place among the best second-placed teams.
Under AFC rules, group winners qualify alongside the best seven second-placed teams, a formula that gave Jordan a route to continue its continental campaign, after finishing fourth among the ranked second-placed teams.
The manner of qualification sparked considerable debate among fans, especially since Jordan didn't secure its own passage, needing the Afghanistan-Bahrain result to confirm its place. A number of observers described the qualification as unconvincing, arguing that Afghanistan's win was the decisive factor in securing Jordan's spot in the finals, and that things would have become far more complicated had the match gone Bahrain's way.
Observers believe that, despite its importance, qualification shouldn't overshadow the technical shortcomings that emerged during the qualifiers, especially with Jordan heading into a continental tournament that requires better preparation and more careful selection of players capable of adding real value, away from the calculations that can accompany a qualifying campaign.
In this regard, sports analyst and critic Raafat Al-Abbadi affirmed that there is a degree of favoritism and sentimentality in how players are called up to the U-20 national team, noting that the technical staff needs to take a broader look at the options available to it.
Al-Abbadi told Al-Ghad that there are standout players who deserve to represent the national team and could offer a real addition to the squad, including Saad Al-Salamat, Ahmad Al-Muhaysiri of Shabab Al-Ordon, Saif Taha of Paris Saint-Germain, and Hamza Al-Khairy of Spain's Rayo Vallecano, among other players who deserve to represent the national team.
He said it's "unreasonable" that talented, professional players at strong European clubs aren't being given the chance to join the national team and have their abilities assessed, especially since the upcoming stage requires widening the pool of options available to the technical staff. Al-Abbadi stressed that qualifying for the finals wasn't convincing from a technical standpoint, noting that the Afghanistan-Bahrain result played a decisive role in securing Jordan's qualification.
He added that qualification itself remains a positive for Jordanian football, but what's needed in the coming period is to learn from the issues the qualifiers exposed and work on addressing shortcomings, whether in player selection or technical performance, before reaching the Asian finals.
For his part, national coach Mohammad Al-Ababneh affirmed that luck can sometimes play a role during a national team's campaign, suggesting this may have been one of the things Jordan's coaches needed during the current qualifiers.
Al-Ababneh said the Afghanistan-Bahrain result did indeed work in Jordan's favor and helped confirm its qualification, but what matters most right now is that the team succeeded in reaching the Asian Cup, and that the upcoming period must be approached with greater seriousness. He added that qualification should mark the beginning of the work, not the end of it, stressing the need to use the period before the finals to correct mistakes and address the shortcomings that emerged during the qualifying matches.
Al-Ababneh pointed to the importance of the technical staff reconsidering the player pool and studying all the options available to it, in search of players capable of providing the addition the team needs before taking part in the 2027 Asian Cup finals.
He explained that having a period of time before the finals gives the technical staff a chance to monitor players and test new elements, ensuring the team arrives at the tournament with a squad more capable of competing, especially since the level of competition at the finals will be considerably higher than in the qualifiers.
Jordan began its Asian qualifying campaign with a valuable 1-0 win over Afghanistan, before beating Bahrain 2-1.
However, Jordan ended its qualifying campaign with a 1-0 loss to Tajikistan, settling for second place with 6 points, edging out Tajikistan on head-to-head results.
The 2027 AFC U-20 Asian Cup finals will be held in China in March of next year, amid hopes that the technical staff will use the coming period to build a more balanced team and bring in the best available players.
Jordan's 23-man squad for the Asian qualifiers included: Mohammad Al-Shalool, Qusai Al-Halahleh, Nour Al-Din Yassin, Omar Al-Khatib, Hussein Al-Dhiyabat, Ahmad Abu Kaoush, Omar Al-Muraihel, Ahed Al-Shahadat, Mohammad Al-Bitar, Iyad Al-Amawi, Adib Ramadan, Osama Al-Jawhari, Ali Al-Nuaimi, Saud Abu Zaid, Muhannad Al-Muhaysiri, Qusai Dhib, Qais Al-Shawashra, Mohammad Abu Ramh, Mohammad Handouma, Mahmoud Al-Tumaizi, Abdul Rahman Al-Zughaibeh, Malek Al-Bustanji, and Nasser Al-Dajani.
Resource: Al-Ghad. Reporting: Mohammad Arabiyat
