Youth Blue suffers defeat against Jordan in Asia Cup qualifiers

Mubarak Al-Khalidi

Our national under-20 football team suffered a 1-0 defeat to Jordan in a friendly match held on Saturday evening at Jaber Al-Ahmad Stadium, with Omar Al-Khatib scoring the only goal. Jordan were physically and technically superior, dominating possession throughout both halves of the match. The two sides will meet again tomorrow evening in another friendly encounter.

Both teams are preparing for the Asian Cup qualifiers, with the finals scheduled to be held in China from March 24 to April 10 next year. Our national team has been drawn in Group 7 of the qualifiers, which will be hosted in Cambodia from September 31 to September 6 next year. The group includes Cambodia, Japan, and Yemen.

Notably, the Blue Team launched its preparations for the continental campaign last July, holding a training camp in the Netherlands that featured several friendly matches. Upon returning to the country, they continued their local training under the guidance of coach Virdo Milin.

The team’s preparation plan also includes a final training camp in Thailand in the middle of this month, featuring two friendly matches against Asian teams of the same age category. Following this, the squad will depart for Cambodia to compete in the qualifiers.