Yazan Al Arab Wants To Bring Jordan To Make History To The Semifinals Of The Asian Cup

Yazan Al Arab wants to take Jordan to the semifinals of the 2023 Asian Cup for the first time in history (doc. AFC).

JAKARTA - Jordan will meet Tajikistan in the 2023 Asian Cup quarter-finals at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Friday, February 2, 2024.

Jordan is on the verge of a record-breaking. During the previous four participations, The Chivalrous only reached the quarter-finals, namely in the 2004 and 2011 editions.

Victory in the last eight against Tajikistan will certainly make Jordan make history.

That motivation was carried by Yazan Al Arab. He wants to bring the team for the first time to touch the Asian Cup semifinals.

"The match against Tajikistan is a very difficult match," said the centre-back.

"We will play against a strong team physically. We will get motivation from our fans and hopefully we can reach the semifinals," Al Arab said on the AFC website.

The 28-year-old played an important role in Jordan's journey to the last eight. They escaped the group stage through the best third-placed path.

Jordan collected four points from one win, one draw, and one defeat. Their only defeat was suffered during the last match of Group E against Bahrain. In that match Al Arab was absent.

Al Arab's presence is not only the key to the Jordanian defense, but also a threat in the opponent's penalty box. Evidently, he scored a 2-2 equalizer in the fifth minute of injury time in the last 16 match against Iraq.

The goal motivated Jordan to turn things around two minutes later through Nizar Al Rashdan's goal. Jordan stepped into the quarter-finals with a 3-2 win over Iraq.

Al Arab made his international debut with Jordan in a 4-1 win over Afghanistan seven years ago. He has been a pillar player and has always been called up by the national team ever since.

He believes it is now time for Jordan to make history. Al Arab's belief is based on the composition of the squad that is very worthy to reach new levels.

"You can see that the Jordanian team did not give up and even the equaliser goal I scored was not an individual attempt, but a group attempt."

"We were each very determined, not only for 90 minutes, but until the final whistle sounded. This is our responsibility now. We will do our best to reach the semifinals," said Al Arab again.