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Ammon News - By Aline Bannayan/ Jordan Times

AMMAN — The national football team is preparing to play two friendlies ahead of the upcoming Asian and World Cup qualifiers.

Jordan will host Palestine on August 6 and Libya on August 10, as it gears up for the restart of the 2015 Asian Cup Group A qualifiers.

The team will play Syria on August 15 and Oman on October 15. Jordan is currently leading Group A after defeating Singapore 4-0.

In World Cup qualifiers, Jordan finished third in Group B FIFA Round 4 qualifiers and still has a chance to reach the World Cup for the first time but will have to eliminate Group A third-placed team Uzbekistan in the play-off on September 6 and 10.

The winner will then have a chance to qualify via an intercontinental qualifying tie.

Head coach Hosam Hassan said the squad was gearing up for the two important ties.

“I’m happy about the team’s spirit and readiness for the next phase,” he said, adding that the line-up was open to those who are ready to represent Jordan to advance on the Asian and world stage.

The former Egypt international was quoted by the local media as saying that the current Jordan Cup matches gave him a chance to have a closer look at the performance of all players as the team readies for two big battles.

Hassan is a record breaking player who scored a national record of 69 goals for the Pharaohs in a glittering international career that also saw the 46-year-old win three Africa Cup of Nations titles and play 163 internationals.

He started his career as a junior with Ahli in 1982 and played internationally in Greece, Switzerland and the UAE, in addition to a host of Egyptian clubs.

He also coached Egypt’s Zamalek, Ahli Port Said and Ismaili.

In the Asian Cup qualifiers, 20 teams have been divided into five groups of four teams each.

The top two teams from each group and the best third-placed team will qualify to the tournament, to be held in 2015.

In the past eight times, since first taking part in the qualifiers back in 1972, Jordan reached the finals twice. The pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup, when it lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA rank of 37th in August 2004.

In 2011, Jordan again reached the quarter-finals, but lost to Uzbekistan 2-1.