Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordan plays Saudi Arabia today on the opening day of the FUCHS four-nation tournament, which groups Kuwait and Iraq.

The July 13-16 tournament, organised by the Jordan Football Association (JAF), is part of Jordan's preparations for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Jordan will play Nepal on July 23 and 28 in Asia’s Round 2 qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil.

The national team is just back from a camp in Turkey where they lost to Syria 3-0, beat Yemen and Turkish second division club Kartal 4-0.

Adnan Hamad, the team’s techincal director, was quoted by a local newspaper as saying that the matches in Turkey were a good chance to assess all aspects of the line-up's readiness.

“Physical fitness improved during the last camp. I look forward to our match against Saudi Arabia,” he said.

The team is also set to play South Africa on August 10 in Amman.

JFA last week signed a partnership deal with Orange to sponsor the national teams as well as the women's league.

The JFA also have FUCHS on board as sponsor for the four-nation tournament.

The national team, ranked 84th in the latest FIFA /Coca-Cola World Ranking, is 6th among Arab and Asian Football Confederation teams.

Currently top Arab teams are led by Egypt at 34th place, followed by Algeria (51), Tunisia (57), Morocco and Libya (63), Jordan (84), Saudi Arabia (92), Qatar (94), Iraq (96), Sudan (99), Kuwait (102), Oman (107), Syria (109), the UAE (110), Yemen (131), Comoros (164), Palestine (167), Lebanon (177), Somalia (188) and Djibouti (193)


**Jordan Times