October 13, 2006	Friday	Ramazan 19, 1427

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LAHORE, Oct 12: Jordan kept their hopes alive for the 14th Asia Cup football main round, whipping Pakistan 3-0 in the qualifier under floodlights at Punjab Stadium on Wednesday night.

The loss was inconsequential for Pakistan since it has already been ruled out of Asia Cup, losing all of its five qualifying matches. Jordan, on the other hand, obtained three crucial points to make the aggregate an impressive seven from similar number of outings. They now face Oman (nine points) in the next match in a must-win situation.

Jordan will also be praying for Oman's defeat at the hands of group leaders UAE (10 points) in the last match to finally get into the main round. If Jordan beat Oman by a margin of 4-0 they can still qualify for the main round even if UAE and Oman play a draw.

The match on Wednesday night was also dominated by the visitors from start to finish despite the fact that they missed a number of scoring opportunities. The performance of Pakistan defense and goalkeeper Mohammad Shahzad, who replaced his unfit skipper Jaffar Khan, was well below the required standard. On almost all the attempts made on Pakistan’s goal, Shahzad failed to impress in his saves, nervously handling the ball on most occasions.

The defense line of Pakistan comprised Mohammad Imran, Tanveer Ahmed and Ejaz Ahmed which gave enough gaps to Jordan's forwards to penetrate through and attack.

Pakistan launched its first attack through striker Mohammad Essa, who led the team in place of Jaffar, in the 12th minute but his kick from top of the box went over the bar.

Jordan retaliated and opened the account in the 17th minute when Shahzad failed to anticipate Abdelhadi El Maharmeh’s feeble push which sailed into the left corner of the goal to make it 1-0 for the visitors.

Pakistan got another opportunity in the 21st minute but striker Shahid Ahmed, who received a fine cross-pass from Mohammad Rasool in front of the goalie, could only send it high over the bar.

Jordan, despite the sporadic attacks from Pakistan, maintained their fast-paced game as midfielder Rafat Jaber initiated two dangerous moves in the 27th and 34th minute though without success.

In the next minute, Pakistan striker Adeel Ahmed's header off a pass from Imran Niazi was brilliantly saved by Jordanian goalie, Amer Sabbah.

Jordan's doubled the lead in the 37th minute when right-winger Amir Khalil sent a cross-pass to Rafat in front of the cage who wasted no time in deflecting it onto the net, leaving Shahzad at sea.

In early stages of the second half, some rough play was witnessed when Khaled Almaltaah of Jordan collided with Pakistan’s Mohammad Rasool. Abdelhadi was forced to leave the ground for treatment. The match had to be stopped then for a few minutes as fist-fight ensued between the supporters of the two teams.

In the 59th minute, Pakistan staged its most fierce attack set off by Mohammad Imran and Mohammad Rasool. But in the end Mohammad Rasool's powerful kick was well deflected by Amer.

Maintaining the tempo of the game, Jordan finally made it 3-0 in the 84th minute through Khaled Almaltaah who scored the best goal of the match. Khaled, receiving a high pass in the box, jumped to control the the ball superbly before kicking it into the right corner of the cage, beating the Pakistan goalkeeper all ends up.

It was Jordan's second win against Pakistan after they beat them at home leg in Amman by an identical margin.