Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Amman: Following his key role in Jordan’s stunning victory over AFC Asian Cup holders Australia, Hamza Al Daradreh was once again pivotal in his side’s 3-0 FIFA World Cup 2018/AFC Asian Cup 2019 joint-qualifying win over Tajikistan on Tuesday, which took undefeated Al Nashama four points clear of the continental champions at the top of Group B.
Al Daradreh, who won a successfully converted penalty before scoring Jordan’s second in last week’s 2-0 defeat of Australia, opened the scoring after 65 goalless minutes against the Tajiks to settle the nerves of an increasingly restless Amman International Stadium crowd, when he sent a looping header into the net after keeper Alisher Tuychiev was caught out of position after the Central Asians failed to properly clear a corner.
That same crowd was soon sensing a second win in succession when Hassan Abdel-Fattah made it 2-0 with his fifth goal of the qualifying campaign before Al Daradreh, who scored four times against Palestine at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia, put the exclamation mark on a fine week for the Saudi Arabia-based striker when he scored Jordan’s third four minutes into stoppage time.
The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.
Next Matches:
12/11/15 Australia v Kyrgyzstan
12/11/15 Tajikistan v Bangladesh