Pakistan-Jordan clash in Asian Cup in Lahore next Month        
Pakistan Times Sports Desk

LAHORE: Pakistan will take on Jordan in the 14th Asian Cup Football qualifiers (Group-C) here on October 11 at Punjab stadium, the eighth international clash between the two countries.

Pakistan has a patchy record against Jordan, one of the top six teams in Asia as per rankings of Asian Cup. All the previous seven meetings between the two ended in favour of the South West Asian nation Jordan .

Jordan, who like Pakistan have never qualified for World Cup finals, have improved since the Egyptian head coach Mahmoud Al Jawhari took over in 2002, and they made their first Asian Cup in 2004 with him at the helm.

The Egyptian led them to beat Iran in the qualifiers before trouncing Lebanon and North Korea to earn a promotion to the finals at China two years ago.

The first international match between Pakistan and Jordan was seen at Kuala Lumpur's Merdeka Stadium during the 9th Asian Cup Qualifiers (Group-B), with Pakistan losing 0-1 on April 10, 1988. Four years later, Jordan won 2-0 during the First Jordan Cup 1992 at Amman .

The 1994 World Cup qualifiers saw Jordan winning both the matches : 3-1 at Irbid's Al Hassan Sports Complex on May 30, 1993 and 5-0 at China 's Chengdu Sports Complex on June 20, 1993.

The World Cup matches saw Pakistan scoring their lone goal against Jordan through Farooq Rehman.It still remains Pakistan's only goal in international arena against Jordan, who steered 20 goals against South Asian nation in six outings.

Jordan continued their dominance over Pakistan by winning the Asian Cup Qualifiers in 1996 and 2000. On August 9, 1996, in front of their home fans at Amman, they thrashed Pakistan 4-0 in the 11th Asian Cup Qualifier (Group-6), followed by a 5-0 win at Qatar's capital Doha during the 12th Asian Cup Qualifier (Group-4) on April 6, 2000. The seventh meeting was the the first leg of the ongoing event on February 22, 2006 at Amman International Stadium with Jordan winning 3-0.

As many as 24 teams, including holders Japan, are participating in the qualifiers which will end on November 15, 2006.

The 12 qualifiers will join the final phase (July 9-27 2007) and for the first time in its history, the competition will be co-hosted by four nations including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Held every four years since 1956, a shift in the rhythm will occur in 2007 in order to take the AFC's blue-riband event out of the years featuring a European Football Championship and the Olympic Games.

The Asian Cup would revert to its four-year cycle after the 2007 finals with South Asia hosting the competition in 2011.●