Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Dushanbe: Jordan head coach Maher Abu Hantash is targeting a win and three more points when his talented side face the United Arab Emirates in Group A of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers on Wednesday.
As hosts, the Jordanians are already assured of a spot at next year’s finals, but following a resounding 6-0 win over Bahrain on Matchday One, Abu Hantash is demanding more of the same when they come up against another of their regional rivals.
“We observed all the teams in action on Monday and we will use the same system for our upcoming matches. Hopefully though, we can score more goals,” he said, whilst praising the performance of Maysa Jbarah who bagged a hat-trick.
“We will focus on our attacking firepower and work with the girls on their finishing. We will aim to score early so that we can open the game up, because in this [type of] match, our opponents try to make things very difficult for us.
“The most important thing is winning and taking the three points.”
Should Abu Hantash’s charges top the group, the team finishing second will book their place at the 19th edition of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, a fact not lost on UAE head coach Samir Landolsi who believes the Emiratis will still have it all to play for even if they fail to come up with the goods against Jordan.
“It is okay to lose a match”, declared Landolsi referring to the UAE’s 4-0 defeat to the Philippines in their campaign opener.
“Now, as we prepare for the match against Jordan, who are the favourites, I will say the exact same thing.
“We will have our chance [to gain points] against Bahrain, Tajikistan and Iraq.”
The Philippines’ defeat of the UAE saw them end Matchday One second in the group behind Jordan. However, despite the impressive margin and manner of victory, coach Letecia Bautista is adamant that there is more to come from the Southeast Asians when they come up against an Iraq side team determined to prove their worth following Monday’s narrow 1-0 loss to Tajikistan.
“We can still improve,” she said. “There were lapses as well,” she said
Meanwhile, Tajikistan, who are acting as hosts throughout the Group A qualifiers, are looking to build on their opening day success against Iraq when they face a Bahrain outfit still smarting from their hefty defeat at the hands of Jordan.
"We made history with that match and that victory,” Tajikistan head coach Bobokalonov Sulaymon said of the game which was his team’s first official senior outing.
“We were prepared, and now we have moved on and are concentrating on the next match.”
Photo: Tajikistan Football Federation