AFC President Shaikh Salman hopes Jordan earn FIFA World Cup ticket

The Asian Football Confederation president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has congratulated Jordan for winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifier playoff against Uzbekistan on Tuesday, September 10 and hoped that the Hashemite Kingdom will be able to earn a fifth spot for Asia in Brazil next year.

The West Asians overcame Uzbekistan 9-8 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the second-leg of the playoff in Tashkent. The first leg of this encounter had also ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

Jordan will now face the fifth-placed team from South America in November for a place in the world’s showpiece football event to be held in Brazil next year.

“I would like to congratulate Jordan for winning this tough playoff. Both the teams displayed immense grit and determination over two legs,” he said. “The match could have gone either way as both the teams were equal in all the aspects of the game and it was evident from the fact that both the legs ended in 1-1 draws and the penalties also went down to the wire.

“My heart also goes out to Uzbekistan who played brilliantly throughout this campaign but once again lost in the playoff. I am confident that they will overcome the agony of missing out from the FIFA World Cup and bounce back in the future.”

“I would like to congratulate the Jordanian team and all the stakeholders of football in Jordan and hope that they will win the crucial intercontinental playoff and be the fifth Asian representative in Brazil,” the AFC president Shaikh Salman added.