A cold performance in a hot weather
Jordan frustrated Lebanon yesterday to grab an important draw on Lebanese soil and opened their Athens 2004 qualifying campaign in positive fashion. Despite this fact, both teams played a match of an average rating with the Lebanese Olympic team having the upper hand with an approximate ball possession of 49% while the Jordanian team had 35%.

First-Half tension

   The match was a little bit tensioned by both teams especially in the first half. The players were tensed especially the Lebanese players who concentrated on playing high balls instead of simple one-touch passes. The Jordanian defense was totally in control especially in dead-balls situations. However, the tension nearly disappeared in the second half with some chances for the two sides.

Missed chances
   The match was played in a nearly hot weather, but its rating was cold although both teams had some dangerous chances. The clearest chance for the Lebanese side fell to Abbas Atwi in the 15th minute of the second half with a masterful shot from the edge of the box but the Jordanian keeper Amer Shafi' made a great effort to save Atwi's shot who could have snatched the lead for Lebanon.

Santina saviour

   The best ever chance in the match was for Jordan when Hassan Abd el Fatah broke through the Lebanese defense and shot a strike which was saved bravely by the Lebanese keeper Mohammad Santina but the ball was deflected to reach Abd el Fatah again who sent the ball wide instead of scoring in the wide open goal.

Atwi and Hamie Sparkle

   Maybe the best players of the Match were Abbas Atwi and Khaled Hamie from Lebanon and Khaled Sa'ad from Jordan. This doesn't mean that other players didn't play fair enough, but those three were absolutely the key players of the match. Atwi and Hamie were the masters of the  midfield where Sa'ad was the best defender by nearly tracking all the Lebanese balls especially those in air.

Tactical Match

   Jordan played a tactical match with a formation of 4-3-2-1. This formation played in a defensive style and used counter attacks whenever the ball was intercepted. The Lebanese side played with a formation which was nearer to 3-1-4-2 with great control in the midfield and defense and excellent goalkeeping where the problem was in the disappointing finishes in front of a good Jordanian goalkeeper.

Hats off to Jawhari

   We have to take the hats off to Jordan's coach Mahmoud Al Jawhari who knew how to stop the Lebanese team especially its key players. After the match the Jordanian Coach said that the match was totally square and he praised the Lebanese defense and No. 10 from Lebanon (Abbas Atwi) for his good performance. He also hoped that the second leg match will be better than the 1st leg.

   On the other side, Abbas Atwi confessed that the match was a little bit tensed because it was the first match for a Lebanese national team on its home ground since two years. He said: "I myself was tensed because we had to score a goal or two to be more comfortable in the second leg".

   Note that the second leg match will be played in 19 April 2003 in the Jordanian capital Amman.