ammonnews.net

Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordan’s Wihdat and Faisali will start their return leg matches in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup on Tuesday with both teams needing wins to maintain chances in Groups A and B respectively.

Wihdat face Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr and need to jump back and advance as they are now third in Group A after a 1-1 draw with Altyn Asyr at home. The Jordan Professional League champs earlier lost an away match against Lebanon’s Al Ahd 3-2 after their opening 2-0 win over Bahrain’s Hidd.

In Group B, Faisali play Lebanon’s Tripoli. They are now second after they were held 1-1 with Tripoli in Beirut in Leg 1. Earlier they beat Iraq’s Naft Al Wasat 2-1 after their opening 0-0 draw with Turkmenistan’s Istiklol Dushanbe.

A two-time AFC Cup winner, Faisali have had a good season locally and aim to return to the forefront of competitions this year. Wihdat hope the AFC will make up for elimination from the Asian Champions League — the premier Asian competition — where they lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia’s Ittihad Jeddah. Wihdat have never won an Asian title, yet. Wihdat have been league champs for the past two seasons. This year, they conceded the season opening 33rd Super Cup to rival Faisali. After elimination from the Jordan Cup, now are leading the league with five matches remaining after they beat rival Faisali 1-0.

The 14th AFC Cup has 40 clubs from across the continent competing in eight groups with the top two from each group going on to the Round of 16 when Round 1 ends on May 24. The second tier Asian club competition has been won three times by Jordanian teams; Faisali won titles in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun in 2007.

Jordanian clubs hope to win back the title this season after record winning Kuwaiti teams were suspended by FIFA. Prize money includes $1 million for the champ, $500,000 for the runner-up, $40,000 for semifinalists, $25,000 for quarter-finalists and $15,000 for teams reaching the Round of 16.

In 2015, Jordanian teams were absent from advanced stages of Asian competitions as Wihdat and Jazira were knocked out of the AFC Cup Round of 16. While it was the first time for Jazira, who finished runner-up in the league and participated in the event after two-time AFC Cup champs and Faisali declined, Wihdat were hoping to advance and win the AFC Cup for the first time after taking part eight times.

In 2014, Jordan Cup champs That Ras exited the Round of 16 in their inaugural AFC participation while former AFC Cup champs Shabab Urdun exited in Round 1.

*Jordan Times