Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Al Ain: Jordan consolidated their position at the top of Group B of the qualifiers for the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship with their second impressive win of the campaign on Monday, when the side from the Hashemite Kingdom followed up their 5-0 drubbing of Pakistan with a 4-0 defeat of Kyrgyzstan.
Al Wehdat midfielder Saleh Ibrahim struck in the third minute of Monday’s match at the Al Qattara Stadium with the only goal of the first half as Jordan had to wait until 15 minutes after the interval to extend their advantage, with Firas Shilbaya grabbing the second for Jamal Abu Abed’s charges.
Five minutes later it was 3-0 Jordan as Baha’ Faisal Mohammad got his name on the score sheet just three minutes after coming on to replace Belal Qwaider in a 67th minute substitution before Mahmoud Al Mardi – scorer of the opening goal against Pakistan – put an exclamation mark on the victory with number shortly before Iraqi referee Ali Sabah Al Qaysi blew the final whistle.
Jordan’s win took them top of Group B with six points, two more than Kuwait who followed their goalless draw against Kyrgyzstan in the opening fixture by defeating Pakistan 2-0 in Monday’s earlier match, with both goals coming from Faisal Al Azemi inside the first eight minutes.
Jordan will square off with Kuwait to determine that automatic qualifiers from Group B on Wednesday, while Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan battle it out on the same day to see who avoids finishing bottom of the table.
Ten group winners and five best second-placed teams from all groups will join hosts Qatar at the AFC U-23 Championship 2016, with January’s 16-team competition also serving as Asia’s qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Rio.