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Ammon News - by Aline Bannayan | The Jordan Times

AMMAN — The U-22 football team’s 15-match unbeaten streak came to an end on Tuesday after a nervy 1-0 loss to hosts Qatar.

As it prepares for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-22 Championship set for January 2014, Jordan had previously tied Bahrain 2-2 and 1-1 and won 1-0 twice. It also beat Egypt 4-0, Kuwait 1-0 and 2-1, Oman 2-1, Lebanon 5-0 and held Cyprus 0-0.

Despite the defeat, coach Islam Diyabat said he was satisfied with the squad’s performance.

“We had the chance to test all the line-up and avoid any mistakes ahead of the draw for the Asian finals.”

The AFC draw will be held on August 24 with Jordan, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia heading the four groups.

Jordan was the first to qualify to the U-22 finals after leading Group D qualifiers with a winning streak in June 2012. Jordan beat Uzbekistan 3-1, Nepal 3-0, Bangladesh 3-0 and Yemen 4-0.

U-19 team

The men’s U-19 team finished last in the friendly tourney hosted in Amman this week, which brought together Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Oman as teams prepare for the AFC U-19 Championship 2014 qualifiers.

Jordan lost to Saudi Arabia (3-0), Oman (2-1) and Iraq (2-0) to finish last in the event which Iraq won.

Amman will host the AFC U-19 Group B qualifiers starting October 4, which includes the UAE, Maldives, Yemen and Afghanistan. The nine group winners, five from West Zone and four from East, will book a slot in the October 2014 finals alongside the six best-placed teams.

The top four sides of the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship will book a place in the FIFA U-20 World Cup set for New Zealand in 2015.

The U-19 team lost to Tunisia three times 1-0, 4-1 and 4-2, and held Tunisian youth champs Tarraji 2-2.

The Kingdom took part in the U-19 Championship four times so far. In 2006, the team made Asian and world headlines, achieving the country’s biggest sporting success when it qualified to the 2007 FIFA Youth World Cup in Canada after reaching the semis and finishing fourth at the championship.