Jordan feeling pride not pressure over World Cup debut

SANTA CLARA: Jordan are feeling pride not pressure ahead of their World Cup debut against Austria and will fight to prove their worth in what will be a new chapter in the country’s soccer history, captain Ehsan Haddad said on Monday.

Known for their strong counter-attacking, Jordan scored 32 goals in World Cup qualifying and are seeking to become the first team to reach the knockout stage in a debut appearance since Slovakia’s feat in 2010.

“We are participating for the first time in our history. It is a great source of pride for us. This is pride more than pressure. It was the dream to be here,” Haddad said.

“We have self-confidence,” he said. “The pressure that we used to feel got us here. So let us see where it’s going to lead us to.”

There will be no gentle introduction for the side known at home as Al-Nashama, or the “noble ones”, with Austria eager to make their mark on the tournament after 28 years in the World Cup wilderness.

Jordan’s next match in Group J will be against Algeria, then defending champions Argentina.

The step up to the World Cup will be a big leap, with the bulk of the Jordan squad from clubs at home or in the Middle East and only winger Mousa ​Al Tamari playing club football in Europe, with French side Stade Rennais.

Haddad said Jordan felt privileged to be at the World Cup when teams like Italy had missed out, but they would not settle for just showing up.

“There are great players historically who are not here today. This is a source of motivation for us to give it everything we’ve got,” he said.

“We are going to fight, we’re going to be patient for 90 minutes and we’re going to stick to our game plan.”

Jordan coach Jamal Sellami said Austria had strong midfielders and were good in attack and in the air, but he had a gameplan he would stick to in the group encounter in Santa Clara at the stadium of the San Francisco 49ers.

Sellami said good opening matches in this World Cup for countries that qualified from Asia – Japan, South Korea, Australia and Qatar – had motivated his team.

“The results they achieved are really encouraging,” he said. “It’s all positive, positive motivators for the players or for them to perform.”