Do you know why the European Championship is much more popular and interesting than the Asian Cup? The reason is not only and not so much the strength of the participating teams and the number of star players, but the much greater predictability of the second tournament. Among the Asian teams there are only 4-5 teams with grandee status, and recently Qatar has joined them as an upstart – but this is an absolutely complete list of serious contenders for the title.
However, the just ended Asian Cup showed the world a completely unexpected sensation in the form of the Jordanian national team. She didn’t win the trophy, but she made it to the finals, which no one could have expected from a team with a historical achievement in the form of two quarterfinals of the same tournament. And you can’t say that the team is on a steady rise – the last time the Jordanians updated their record was already quite distant in 2011.
If you like sports betting, go to mostbet azerbaycan yukle proqram, and we will try to figure out how the Jordan team managed such an achievement, and whether it will continue to surprise fans.
What is the essence of the sensation?
Even though Jordan had never played in either the final or semi-final of the Asian Cup before, it still doesn’t give us an idea of how unlikely favorites they were this time around. Three eloquent facts will help you understand the essence of the achievement:
- the last position of the Jordanians in the FIFA ranking before the Asian Cup is 87, which is lower even than such “powerful” Asian teams as Bahrain, China, Oman;
- the total cost of the Jordan national team at the tournament is 13.65 million euros – objectively, this is the cost of one (and definitely not a star!) player from the European top 5 championships;
- almost half of the entire value of the team, namely 6 million euros, is its leader Moussa Tamari from French Montpellier, there is also Yazan al-Naimat (Al-Ahly Doha) for 600 thousand, the rest cost a maximum of 400 and play for clubs whose names They won’t tell you anything.
Football is not played by FIFA ranking, but according to this indicator Jordan was only thirteenth in the tournament. The Jordanians themselves reasoned that they should at least leave the group. Note that the task from the outside does not seem difficult at all: in the quartet there was an obvious “passenger” in the person of the Malaysian national team (130th position), and four of the six third places allowed them to get into the playoffs.
At the end of the group stage, Jordan still didn’t seem like much of a surprise. Yes, the team destroyed Malaysia with a score of 4:0, but this is not an achievement. Much more interesting is the draw with South Korea, where the second most likely favorite of the entire Asian Cup saved himself only in stoppage time. In the third round, the Jordanians spoiled their impression by losing to Bahrain, who were considered approximately equal opponents. As a result, the team made it to the playoffs only from third place, albeit as the best.
The Jordanians were the only ones to pass the 1/8 stage among those who got there from third place. And this was also a sensation – until 90+5 minutes, Iraq, the favorite of the confrontation, was leading with a score of 2:1, but quite unexpectedly did not even hold a draw, not surviving until extra time. In the quarterfinals, they faced the most modest opponent – Tajikistan, but for the 87th team they still need to beat them.
But in the semifinals, Jordan again advanced to South Korea. The Koreans are always considered one of the main contenders for the title in Asia, but here they were faced with a deafening slap in the face – 2:0 and elimination. Only in the final did the Jordanians manage to be stopped by other Arabs – the Qataris, who also demonstrated a confident game, and even in front of their home stands.
How did you achieve success and what next?
The Asian Cup was supposed to take place in 2023 in China, but the Chinese coronavirus pandemic worsened again and they refused to host the tournament. Qatar quickly picked up the baton, but this country could not prepare immediately, so the competition was postponed to the beginning of 2024.
If not for the postponement, Jordan would have been led at the Asian Cup by Iraqi coach Adnan Hamad. He did not achieve any truly great success with the team, but his work was certainly not considered a failure – the Jordanians learned to play organized defense. Before the new date of the continental tournament, the specialist’s contract expired, and the federation, despite criticism, did not renew it, inviting the Moroccan Hussein Ammut.
The new coach did not break the work of his predecessor, but taught his players to sharply counterattack. Ammut’s first steps seemed like an outright failure, Jordan regularly got nuts, and the fans missed Hamad. But over time, the Moroccan began to succeed, and the Jordanians were nicknamed the “Arab cavalry” for their sharp counterattacking style of play – like several other, more famous teams that profess a similar manner.
A strong coach is great, and Ammut even has a long-term contract. However, Jordan does not have any particularly strong generation, and, frankly speaking, none is expected. There is an assumption that the success at the Asian Cup is largely due to underestimation on the part of the opponents, because the same Koreans with whom they managed to score a sensation twice are many times stronger on paper. Now the Jordanians will not be underestimated, and the game will become very difficult – the opponents will probably come up with an antidote to the attacks of the “Arab cavalry”.
Qualification for the World Cup is underway in Asia right now, and Jordan is not yet shining in the second round quartet. In two matches with Pakistan, one can and should gain 6 points, but with the same Tajiks, the Jordanians played a draw and lost to the Saudis. After two rounds (out of six) – only one point and third place, but we need at least second. If successful, there will be a third stage of selection, where the opponents are noticeably stronger, so even a simple qualification to the World Cup for Jordan, who has never played there before, will again be not a regularity, but a loud sensation.
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