Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Amman: Jordan coach Abdullah Mesfer feels his side are well on the way to securing qualification for a third consecutive AFC Asian Cup after beginning their 2019 bid with a 7-0 home win over Cambodia on Tuesday.
Hamza Al Dardour netted a hat-trick, while Yaseen Bakheet, Odai Al Saify, Ahmad Saleh and Mousa Mohammad were also on target at the King Abdullah II International Stadium, as Jordan took control of Group C after Afghanistan shared a 1-1 draw with Vietnam in Dushanbe in their opener.
Jordan next travel to Vietnam in June, with the top two finishers in the final round of qualifiers securing progress to the finals in the United Arab Emirates in 2019.
“I want to thank the players for the excellent performance and the big result that we had. I hope that continues with the performance that we had in the next matches as we are aiming to qualify to the finals,” said former UAE coach Mesfer, who was appointed in December.
“We didn’t have good preparation, and despite that, we achieved what we wanted and had a good performance.
“In the match, we wanted to get the three points and we didn’t care much about the big result.”
Jordan, who earned direct qualification for the final round of qualifiers having finished second behind Australia during the previous stage, failed to progress from the group stage in Australia 2015 having reached the quarter-finals in Qatar four years earlier.
“Before the match today, the chances were even but after the big win, our chances became better,” added Mesfer.
“We have the next match against Vietnam who are a good side and we must respect all our opponents in the qualifiers.”
Vietnam will be also hopeful of qualification after the opening round of fixtures after claiming a point from their away tie against Afghanistan as they seek to return to the AFC Asian Cup for the first time since co-hosting the 2007 tournament and reaching the quarter-finals.
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