Amman – Jordan's under-20 national football team meets their American counterparts in a friendly today, Saturday, at 4pm at Regnum Sports Ground, as part of their training camp in the Turkish city of Antalya. The camp is an important step in their preparations for the Asian Cup finals, which will be held in China in March next year. The coaching staff, led by Ibrahim Helmy, hope to keep improving the team's performance and secure further gains before the camp closes.
اضافة اعلان
The match follows the team's positive start in Turkey, where they beat Indonesia 2-0 last Wednesday. The win gave the players an important morale boost and underlined the value of the friendlies the team is playing as part of its preparations for the continental tournament.
Against Indonesia, the team played well and managed to assert itself during periods of the match. Their advantage translated into a first goal by Laith Al-Rabee' in the 42nd minute, and Mohammad Abu Mashrouf extended the lead early in the second half, in the 47th minute, giving the team a deserved victory in their first match of the camp.
The earlier game was about more than the result. The coaching staff made sure to field as many players as possible in order to assess their form and fitness, and to give more than one player the chance to show they can compete for a place in the squad. That matters at this stage, when the pool of options needs to be widened before the official competitions begin.
Today's match against the United States carries extra significance as the team's final test at the Antalya camp. Helmy hopes to use it to assess how the team's collective play has developed, to measure how well the players cope with different playing styles, and to strengthen cohesion among the squad before the team returns to Amman to continue preparations for the Asian tournament.
These preparations come amid hopes of building a team capable of competing at continental level. The Asian Cup finals are now a key milestone in the development programme for this generation, which seeks to give a positive image of Jordanian football. The team also aims to use the preparation period to gain experience and play against sides from varied footballing traditions.
The squad includes a group of young players on whom the coaching staff is counting, among them Mohammad Al-Shalool, Laith Al-Rabee', Mohammad Abu Mashrouf, Qusai Amer, Hussein Al-Dhiabat, Qais Al-Shawashreh and Mohammad Hindawneh, along with the other players who had their chance in the match against Indonesia.
Source: Al-Ghad.
