Jordan prepare for 2015 Asian Cup qualifiers

by Aline Bannayan | Jan 13, 2013 | 21:41

AMMAN — The national team is set to meet Indonesia on January 31 as both teams prepare for the 2015 Asian Cup qualifiers starting February 6.

The friendly precedes Jordan’s first qualifier against Singapore on February 6 after they were drawn in Group A with Oman and Syria. The national team’s March 22 match against Syria was postponed to August 15 as requested by the Jordan Football Association.

The rescheduling will give Jordan more time to prepare for their World Cup qualifier against Japan on March 26, before playing Australia on June 11 and Oman on June 18.

“All is set for the Indonesia match which will be held at King Abdullah Stadium in Quweismeh,” team manager Osama Talal told the local media.

Jordan ended 2012 in 94th spot in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. The ranking came after their first round exit at the West Asian Championship which was won by Syria.

The Kingdom was represented by younger players mainly from the U-22 team as others who were on World Cup qualifiers duty, including star goalie Amer Shafie, were dropped. Jordan lost 1-0 to Iraq and 2-1 to Syria and exited the event.

The late regrouping of footballers playing abroad who were also not given ample playing time in their respective clubs and possibly the ageing line-up of players were cited as reasons for the team’s declining form by some analysts.

In Round 4, Group B FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifying, Jordan lost 2-1 to Oman and 1-0 to Iraq which complicates their chances of possibly reaching the World Cup. With another three matches to go, Jordan drew 1-1 with Iraq, lost 6-0 to Japan and scored a historic 2-1 win over Australia.

The Jordanian team joined the continent’s top 10 qualifying teams in the final qualifying Round 4 for the first time since taking part in the qualifiers back in 1985.

 http://jordantimes.com/jordan-prepare-for-2015-asian-cup-qualifiers

Soccer-Indonesia minister threatens to disband rivals - report

Posted on 15/01/2013 at 14:19, updated on 15/01/2013 at 14:20

Jan 15 (Reuters) - Indonesia's newly appointed sports minister has threatened to disband the country's two rival soccer factions unless a solution is found to end the rumbling row before FIFA's latest deadline.

Soccer in the southeast Asian country has been long plagued by infighting between the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) and the breakaway Indonesian Soccer Rescue Committee (KPSI), with FIFA threatening to suspend them if the dispute was not resolved by Dec. 10.
But Indonesia somehow dodged a ban and were given a three month extension to resolve the fight for power after emergency talks involving soccer's world governing body and the Asian Football Confederation.
Roy Suriyo, who was appointed as the country's new youth and sports minister on Tuesday, was confident of solving the bitter feud before the FIFA deadline, the Jakarta Globe said in a report.
"FIFA has given us a deadline of March 16. So, we have to solve the problems by then," Suriyo told the newspaper.
"I have neither interests nor attachment to the ... PSSI and KPSI. So, God willing, I will solve it."
Any government interference, however, is likely to lead to an automatic ban from FIFA, with the world governing body suspending other nations for similar acts in the past.
Soccer fans in Indonesia have become used to the struggles with one crisis routinely following another, their record 10-0 humiliation by Bahrain in a World Cup qualifier in February triggering a FIFA investigation.
At one point, Indonesia had two national teams and still has two domestic leagues with players blocked from competing in the other.
The team disappointingly exited at the group stage of the Southeast Asian championships in December and a ban would jeopardise their participation in the qualifying tournament for the 2015 Asian Cup which begins in February.
More than half of the 52 players short listed for the Asian Cup qualifiers were yet to report to a training camp in North Sumatra as the KPSI-affiliated clubs have refused to release them, the Jakarta Post reported.
National team coach Nil Maizar said he would wait for the players to turn up and was yet to set a deadline with their opening qualifier against Iraq scheduled for Feb. 6.
"We haven't set a deadline so far. We will talk about it within the week," Maizar told the newspaper after a training session at the University of North Sumatra's ground on Monday. (Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Patrick Johnston)

 http://asia.eurosport.com/football/soccer-indonesia-minister-threatens-to-disband-rivals-report_sto3572614/story.shtml