Jordan leave it late to beat Iraq 3-2 and reach Asian Cup quarter-finals
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Jordan's players celebrating their 3-2 win against Iraq at the Qatar 2023 Asian Cup football match at Khalifa International Stadium in Doha on Jan 29.
PHOTO: AFP
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DOHA – Jordan advanced to the Asian Cup quarter-finals after two stoppage-time goals secured a 3-2 win over Iraq, who had striker and tournament top scorer Aymen Hussein sent off late on for excessive goal celebrations on Jan 29.
With Iraq holding a 2-1 lead and looking destined to move into the last eight, Jordan’s Yazan Al-Arab equalised in the 95th minute before Nizar Al-Rashdan scored two minutes later with a glorious long-range effort to break Iraqi hearts.
Jordan went ahead on the stroke of half-time when Yazan Al-Naimat pounced on a sloppy pass and raced past the defence.
The 24-year-old chipped the ball over goalkeeper Jalal Hassan to score before celebrating with his teammates by sitting on the turf and pretending to eat a meal.
Iraq struck back in the 68th when Saad Natiq headed home from a corner, before Hussein scored eight minutes later when he controlled a cross and fired into the bottom corner.
The joy of scoring his sixth goal of the tournament quickly turned to shock when the referee produced a second yellow card for excessive celebrations after the striker mimicked Jordan’s players and sat on the turf, pretending to eat by himself.
While Iraq fumed, Jordan took full advantage of the extra man and when Mousa Tamari’s stoppage-time effort was parried by Hassan, Al-Arab was on hand to fire home the rebound.
The comeback was complete when Al-Rashdan was left unmarked outside the box and curled his shot past the goalkeeper to set up a quarter-final with tournament debutants Tajikistan on Feb 2.
“Of course the sending-off was the turning point,” said Iraq’s Spanish coach Jesus Casas. “I don’t understand how a referee can send a player off for celebrating. We had to make changes and this complicated our task.”
Jordan coach Hussein Ammouta said: “The confidence that we have made us believe we could come back and this is what we’ve done. In added time we came back, we equalised and we exploited Iraq being one man down. We have a strong mentality and we have to maintain it so we can go further in this tournament.”
On Jan 28, Tajikistan upset the United Arab Emirates 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out to advance to the last eight and keep their dream run alive after the game ended 1-1 after extra time.
Tajikistan took the lead through Vahdat Hanonov’s first-half goal before UAE’s Khalifa Al Hammadi forced extra time with a stoppage-time header.
In the shoot-out, UAE’s Caio Canedo had his effort saved by goalkeeper Rustam Yatimov before Tajikistan’s Alisher Shukurov scored the decisive spot kick.
Tajikistan are now only the second tournament debutants since Australia in 2007 to reach the quarter-finals, but this was a much bigger upset for the minnows compared to an established Australian team who made the switch to the Asian Football Confederation.
Ranked 106th, the Central Asian side coached by Petar Segrt sit 42 rungs below the UAE, a team who last reached the semi-finals in the 2015 and 2019 editions.
“Nobody will sleep in Tajikistan tonight,” a grinning Segrt said after the upset win.
“We are now the dark horses in this tournament. Nobody knows how far we can go. I have no limits for my players, they’ve surprised me again...
“But my biggest win has been the unity that now exists in the team, as nothing is more important to me than harmony among teammates.” REUTERS
