Before eagerly awaited meetings with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo comes slightly less glamorous but hugely important first ever World Cup games for Asia’s debutants. Jordan take on Austria on Wednesday before meeting Algeria and Argentina, while Uzbekistan kick off against Colombia, then Portugal and DR Congo.
Jordan v Austria has been used as an example of a game that will challenge Fifa’s dynamic pricing system but regardless of how full the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium is, the cafes in Amman’s Prince Muhammad Street and all around the country will be packed. They were a year ago, as fans watched Portugal beat Spain in the Uefa Nations League final, three days after the World Cup spot had been secured with the city still buzzing with the thought of Al-Nashama (The Chivalrous Ones) taking on the superstars of the world and … here they are.
But while Jordan may be more about team spirit, organisation and counterattacking, they have stars of their own. In the days after qualification, the faces of the big three forwards featured on billboards everywhere you looked, though they have had differing fortunes since.
The talismanic striker Yazan al-Naimat is out after a cruciate ligament injury in December and while Ali Olwan, who scored all three in a win over Oman that sealed the World Cup spot, has not played competitively since February, he should be fit to start. Musa al-Taamari, a softly-spoken baker’s son from Amman, is the main man and is used to that role as a rare Jordanian export to Europe, where the fast and hard-working winger has had a fine second season for Rennes. Odeh Fakhoury should start in attack in the absence of Naimat, the 20-year-old scoring his first international goal on 31 May against Switzerland.
That was, however, in a 4-1 defeat and was followed by a 2-0 loss to Colombia in San Diego, so there is some concern. The head coach, Jamal Sellami, a firm proponent of 3-4-3, said it was all part of the learning process and the former international goalkeeper Amer Shafi agrees with the taciturn tactician from Morocco.
“There is no cause for concern,” said Shafi, who made 179 international appearances for Jordan. “One of the best things about them is losing in order to learn from mistakes and go into the competitive games with sufficient knowledge of the team’s strengths and weaknesses.” Shafi added that he expects Jordan to reach the knockout stage.
Jordan are ready for a physical battle and would not have minded taking on their Alpine opponents in hotter and more humid conditions than Silicon Valley can offer. Football is played hard in the country which does not have the riches of some of the neighbours. This team dug deep to get to the final of the 2023 Asian Cup, outclassing South Korea in the semi-final. A repeat of that performance and the cafes of Amman will have a bumper day.
And the plov restaurants of Tashkent could enjoy something similar even if it will be breakfast time when Uzbekistan take on Colombia in Mexico City. Asia’s other debutants brought in Fabio Cannavaro as manager soon after sealing their spot. His coaching career is not anything to write back to Naples about, but he did captain his nation to the 2006 World Cup win before returning in 2010 with a dismal first-round exit. Nobody in Central Asia expects the former but a good start and fears of the latter will recede.
Like Jordan, Uzbekistan rarely face non-Asian opposition but do have a squad with European experience. Much attention will be on the Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov but there is talent in Abbosbek Fayzullaev, a winger who fought homesickness to go to CSKA Moscow as a teenager before the lack of international football on offer brought a move to Turkey. A good tournament this time could see the 22-year-old move farther west.
Since qualifying behind Iran, Uzbekistan have lost 2-1 to Uruguay but defeated Gabon and Egypt before final warm-up defeats to Canada and the Netherlands. The latter came thanks to two penalties from Cody Gakpo with the Liverpool forward scoring the winner in the 99th minute, not long after Uzbekistan had equalised to achieve what they thought was going to be a morale-boosting result. It was an important lesson about concentration and focus.
Underestimating the White Wolves would, however, be a mistake. “Uzbeks are tough: people who fight, who never give up,” Cannavaro says. “Playing against them is a pain in the arse. We played Uruguay: we had nine injured players, they weren’t at their best, but my players are tough. It’s not easy to play against them and we only lost 2-1.”
The veteran midfielder Jaloliddin Masharipov has a back problem but excitement and optimism remain high. More than Jordan, perhaps, there is a confidence that whatever happens in the next few weeks, this is just the beginning for the former Soviet republic. The rise of Uzbekistan in Asia after independence in 1991 has been fascinating, if little noticed outside. Repeated near misses at the World Cup brought a label of Asia’s chokers but also resulted in investment. Trophies at youth level are translating into senior success.
“[It] has not come overnight, and we have produced consistent results over a number of years to emerge as one of the leading Asian football nations,” Otabek Umarov, the first vice-president of Uzbekistan’s Olympic committee, says. “People abroad might not realise, but as the first country from central Asia to qualify for the World Cup, this will be a moment where the entire nation stops to cheer on our heroes.”
As it is in Tashkent, so it will be in Amman.