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| AFC Cup |
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| Shabab kiss AFC Cup goodbye |
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| Shabab Al Ordun with the AFC Cup 2007 trophy |
ZARQA – Defending champions Shabab Al Ordun claimed their first win in this year’s AFC Cup with a 3-2 victory over Al Najma of Bahrain on Wednesday but it was not enough to prevent the Jordanian side from making an early exit from the tournament.
Winless in their previous five Group C matches, Shabab Al Ordun raced out to a 3-0 lead at Prince Mohammad International Stadium with goals by Odai Al Saify, Mustafa Shehadeh and an Esam Abo Touk penalty.
Rashed Jamal scored twice in the second half to get Al Najma back into the game but the result ultimately proved useless for both sides as Al Nahda of Oman defeated Yemen’s Shaab Hadramaout 2-0 to win the group and advance to the quarter-finals.
Al Najma held top spot at the start of play and entered the match knowing that a win would send them through to the last eight.
But it was Shabab Al Ordun who threatened early with Syrian defender Raafat Mohammad forcing a save out of Al Najma goalkeeper Abdulrahman Abdulkarim with a powerful shot in the seventh minute.
The home side opened the scoring in the 11th minute when a deep cross found Al Saify, who fired a first-time volley from inside the area past Abdulkarim.
The Bahrainis went on the attack and were left badly exposed in the 29th minute when Al Saify made his way down the left flank before sending in a low cross to an unmarked Shehadeh to make it 2-0.
A third goal arrived five minutes before the break when Hussain Al Soudi brought down Raafat Mohammad in the box and Japanese referee Minoru Tojo pointed to the spot, from which Abo Touk fired home Shabab Al Ordun’s third.
Al Najma pulled a goal back five minutes into the second half when Shabab Al Ordun goalkeeper Mutaz Yasin fouled substitute Redha Abdulnabi and Jamal made no mistake from the penalty spot to make it 3-1.
Al Najma turned up the pressure and it paid dividends as they scored a second goal in the 70th minute when Jamal beat the offside trap and rounded Yasin before tucking the ball into the unguarded net.
Shabab Al Ordun could have restored their two-goal cushion with 14 minutes when substitute slammed a shot against the crossbar.
However, Al Nahda’s victory put paid to their hopes of retaining the title this season.
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