JORDAN booked their place at next year’s Asian Cup and made some amends for their World Cup heartache with an incident-packed 3-1 win over Singapore last night.
In a match which both teams finished with 10 men, the visitors owed their opener to a sly piece of skulduggery, and then had Singapore’s Baihakki Khaizan sent off for an innocuous nudge.
Ahmed Hayel rose unmarked to double Jordan’s lead in the second half, but there was more drama later when Chinese referee Tan Hai gave the scorer an unmerited red card for a tackle from behind.
Singapore ensured a grandstand finish when they pulled a goal back with six minutes remaining, via Khairul Amri from the penalty spot after a push on Muhammad Safuwan.
But Yousef Rawshdeh came on to score the goal of the night in injury-time to secure second place in Group A for Jordan and a spot at next year’s Asian Cup in Australia.
The victory also helps atone for Jordan’s disappointment in World Cup qualifying, when they reached the intercontinental playoffs only to lose 5-0 on aggregate to Uruguay.
