Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - HRH Prince Ali congratulated Jordan’s youth football team on their qualification to the 2012 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championship finals as Group B qualifiers ended in Doha, Qatar, on the weekend.

“You have every right to be proud. The youth team’s achievement is of great importance,’’ Al Ghad quoted Prince Ali, the president of the Jordan Football Association (JFA) and vice president FIFA representing Asia, as saying, following Jordan’s 3-0 win over Bahrain in their last match.

“There will be more focus on the team and other age-groups. The JFA’s strategy has succeeded as we strive to have continuity in our national teams,’’ Prince Ali added.

Head coach Jamal Abu Abed thanked Prince Ali for his support, underlining the JFA’s policy of continued focus on different divisions in order to build a strong base for the game in the Kingdom.

Jordan moved to the finals as the best third-placed team alongside the top two teams from the group Qatar and Bahrain. The team rebounded after their weak start, losing 1-0 to Kuwait and drawing 0-0 with hosts Qatar, before they beat Bhutan 4-0 and Tajikistan 4-1 to keep their chances alive.

It is the fourth time Jordan qualifies to the Asian Youth Championship finals. In 2006, the team scored the Kingdom’s biggest sporting success and made Asian and world headlines when they qualified to the 2007 FIFA Youth World Cup. Their qualification was secured when they pulled off the tournament’s biggest shock and beat pre-tournament title favourites and former champs China 2-1 in the quarters to book a place at the most prestigious youth football tournament.

The 39 competing teams in the qualifiers were divided into two zones and separated in seven groups of six or five teams each. Each group played one round with the top two teams from each group making it to the final tournament. Third best teams from each west and east zones will complete the 16-team line-up of the 2012 finals. So far, Iraq and Saudi Arabia qualified from Group A, as well as Syria and the UAE from Group D.

Jordan’s squad lately won the 4th Arab Schools Football Tournament in Saudi Arabia. They also had a long period of preparation, playing several friendlies, holding training camps and hosting a three-nation tourney with the UAE and Oman in Amman.