A place in the history books is the focus of Yazan al-Arab as Jordan attempt to make the semi-finals of the AFC Asian Cup for the first time when they meet Tajikistan at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on Friday.
Two previous appearances in the quarter-finals ended in defeats against Japan (2004) and Uzbekistan (2011) respectively with al-Arab determined to help Jordan break through the barrier.
“Tomorrow’s match is a very difficult match,” the centre-back said on Thursday. “We’ll play against a team who are physically strong. We will draw motivation from our fans and hopefully we can reach the semi-finals.”
The 28-year-old has played a pivotal role in Jordan’s run to the last eight, with the team’s only defeat thus far coming in the final Group E match against Bahrain, a tie which al-Arab did not feature in. Al-Arab’s physical presence is not only key to Jordan’s defence but he’s also a threat in the opposition box, as was proven by the equalising goal he scored in the fifth minute of added time in the Round of 16 match against Iraq.
Seven years on from making his senior international debut in a 4-1 win over Afghanistan, al-Arab is a permanent fixture and firmly believes that the current squad has what it takes to scale new heights.
“You can see that the Jordanian team doesn’t give up and even the tying goal that I scored was not an individual effort, it was a group effort. “Every single one of us was very determined, not only for 90 minutes but until the last whistle. It’s our responsibility now and we will do our best to reach the semi-finals.”
Meanwhile Tabrez Islomov of Tajikistan has highlighted Jordan’s attacking trio of Mousa al-Tamari, Ali Olwan and Yazan al-Naimat as the threat Tajikistan must neutralise in their maiden AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 quarter-final.
“Our preparation is going well to face a strong opponent who are appearing at this stage of the tournament for the fifth time in their history,” said the FC Istiklol player.
“In comparison (to our last meeting), we noticed that compared to then, they look like a good attacking group, especially the front three. That is the major difference that we can see of Jordan in this tournament. However, we also have good defenders and we have done our homework and I’m sure Tajikistan can compete with them, even with the improvements that they have made.”