DEFEAT, BUT JORDAN’S WORLD CUP DEBUT DID NOT DISAPPONT

Jordan may have suffered a 3-1 defeat in their first ever World Cup finals match to Austria, but the Kingdom was a big winner overall.
Tuesday’s debut at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in the United States was attended by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah, His Royal Highness Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, President of the Football Association, and His Royal Highness Prince Hashem bin Abdullah.
It was a night to remember for the thousands of Jordan fans inside the stadium and millions tuning in across the world as Al Olwan equalised in the 50th minute. But Austria’s experience showed in the later staged of the match as they ran out 3-1 winners.
Austrian went ahead in the 20th minute, despite Jordan having several good chance, so the equaliser was well-deserved.
But in the final quarter of the match, Austria nudged ahead, having just had a goal overturned by VAR, and then secured the victory with a penalty in the 90+12 minute.
Olwan was named Man of the Match for a brilliant display.
National team coach, Jamal Sellami, praised his players for the effort put in and added: “I am proud of what the players delivered during this tough clash, as they executed all defensive and offensive duties throughout the match.
“We have turned the page on the Austria match, and our upcoming focus is on the next two confrontations against Algeria and Argentina.
“We were proud of our Jordanian fans who supported us today at the stadium and provided a massive moral boost to perform at the required level.”
The national team’s delegation returns this afternoon, Wednesday, to its official residence in the city of Portland.
Next up is Algeria back in San Francisco at 6am on Tuesday, June 23 (Jordan time), before concluding the group stage against Argentina at 5am (Jordan time) on Sunday, June 28, at the Dallas stadium.
Jordan line-up: Yazeed Abulaila, Ehsan Haddad (Mahmoud Mardi), Abdallah Nasib (Saed Al-Rosan), Yazan Al-Arab, Mohammad Abu Al-Nadi (Salim Obaid), Mohannad Abu Taha, Nizar Al-Rashdan, Noor Al-Rawabdeh, Oudah Al-Fakhoury (Ali Azaizeh), Ali Olwan, and Mousa Al-Tamari (Mohammad Al-Dawood).