Jordan buoyed by Iran win

AFC - After their surprise victory against continental powerhouse Iran in the World Cup qualifiers last week, Jordan are looking to maintain their excellent form in the WAFF Championship and Asian Cup 2004 finals.

The Jordan side have remained in Tehran to prepare for the third edition of the WAFF Championship, which kicks off later this week in the Iranian capital, and are confident of another strong showing after their exploits of last Wednesday's against Asia's number one ranked team. 

For Jordan coach Mahmoud Al Gohary, the victory against the Iranians on their home ground has been a marvellous boost for his team's confidence as they prepare for their debut in the Asian Cup finals in China.

"The players did a great job and they played a good tactical game and they never succumbed to the Iranian pressure," said the Egyptian coach, who led Jordan to the WAFF Championship final in 2002.

"We created several counter-attacks and we successfully scored from one of them to win the match. The friendly games that we played before the match were successful and it helped us a lot as we practiced the tactics that were necessary to face Iran," he added.

Al Gohary is now aiming to lead the Hashemite nation to another strong showing in the WAFF Championship in Iran.

"The WAFF Championship will be good preparation for the Asian Cup campaign and we'll try to field some promising players in order to prepare them for the Asian Cup," he said.

Defender Bashar Bani Yaseen echoed his coach's view about the match and described the pleasure at defeating Iran. "It was a big game and very tough for us. The coach prepared us very well for the game and we managed to get the winning result that we wanted. We did well especially in the final critical minutes of the match.

"The return leg at home (in September) will be a much harder game for us because Iran will be under huge pressure to get a result because anything less will be fatal for them," he added.

For Jordan goalkeeper Amer Shafi, preparation was essential in his side's victory. "I prepared very well for the game as everyone knows about the powerful attacking line-up of the Iranian team and we adopted some special tactics for the game. The home game will be very decisive because a victory will put us close to qualifying for the next round."