Ammon News - JORDAN TIMES - AMMAN — The national football team started its final three-day training camp in Amman on Saturday, in preparation for the intercontinental qualifying Leg 1 game against Uruguay on November 13 for a place in the World Cup for the first time.

As Jordanians ready to host star-studded Uruguay, the whole country is in the football mood.

JTV organised a daylong telethon on Friday that raised JD1.9 million.

His Majesty King Abdullah called in and wished the team success. “Whatever the result of this week’s match, I’m proud of the players and hope their efforts will pay off.”

Officials rallied support behind the team which is the last Arab squad reaching this far from the Asian zone. The fact that Jordan has never reached this far in World Cup qualifying is a new feat for the game.

FIFA Vice President Asia and Chairman of the Asian Football Development Project HRH Prince Ali said he trusts that the “Nashama” will spare no effort in their final qualifying matches. “It is a source of pride for Jordanians that our team has reached this far with the meagre resources we have.”

He urged fans and officials not to concentrate on some negative reviews from the press, ranging from naming the final line-up to reports of an uneasy relations with the new head coach Hossam Hassan — who took over from Adnan Hamad and led the team in the final phase of the Asian Zone World Cup qualifying play-off when Jordan eliminated Uzbekistan.

In spite of the many obstacles, including last-minute changes to the line-up, injuries, bookings and not releasing players on duty with their clubs in the Gulf made Hassan’s task an uphill battle. Nevertheless the Kingdom beat 67th ranked Zambia 1-0 in Doha and returned home to put finishing touches before their match against former World Cup champs 6th ranked Uruguay, who arrive in Amman Monday

Vital players will miss the match including booked star goalie Amer Shafie, while the coach opted not to include team captain Amer Deeb and Hasan Abdul Fattah, both booked, in the line-up.

Mohammad Dmeiri and Anas Bani Yasin are still on the injury list. Hatem Aqel, who scored against Nigeria, Thaer Bawab, who plays in Romania, and Ramtha’s Rakan Khalidi were the ones recalled.

“Reaching this stage showed there is tremendous teamwork taking place in the field. We should bear in mind that Jordan is the last Arab team representing the Asian Zone. It’s an Arab effort and not a Jordanian one,” said the coach who led Egypt to the 1990 World Cup.

Since taking part in the World Cup qualifiers as of 1985, it is the first time Jordan reaches this far in the qualifiers to the world’s football centrepiece and there has been much talk that government support for the squad was disproportionate with their achievements.

Jordan’s final phase of preparations to face Uruguay — who finished 5th in South American Zone qualifiers — included several friendlies.

During the matches, Jordan held Kuwait 1-1, beat Libya 2-1 and Palestine 4-1. Jordan was set to host Egypt in a friendly, which was cancelled after they lost 6-1 to Ghana in the African Zone qualifiers.

Jordan was the only Arab side to reach the earlier Round 4 World Cup qualifiers where the top 10 Asian teams played.

In Round 4, Jordan drew 1-1 with Iraq and beat Australia 2-1 before losing 2-1 to Oman and 6-0 to Japan.

In Leg 2, the team lost 1-0 to Iraq, beat Japan 2-1, lost to Australia 4-0 and beat Oman 1-0.

Jordan is now ranked 70th worldwide and 6th in Asia, which is led by Japan at 44th, followed by Iran (49th), Uzbekistan (55th), South Korea (56th) and Australia (57th).

The top two teams from Group A (Japan and Australia) and Group B (Iran and South Korea) qualified for the 2014 finals directly.
The two third-placed teams from both groups — Jordan and Uzbekistan — later played for a chance to qualify.

In 2015 Asian Cup qualifiers, Jordan was tied 0-0 with Oman and held on to second place in Group A after they drew 1-1 with Syria and defeated Singapore 4-0.

In the past eight times since first taking part in the Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972, Jordan reached the finals twice in 2004 and 2011.