A “positive” point ahead of the National Olympic team to qualify.

The Lebanese Olympic Team went to Amman on Wednesday 16 April evening to meet his Jordanian rival on April 19^th in the second leg match of the Asian qualifications for Athens 2004.

The first leg match – which was played on Saturday, April 5^th on Beirut Municipality stadium – finished with a goalless draw. So, the Lebanese team has the advantage of winning or getting a positive draw in order to qualify, while a goalless draw means that both teams will have to play penalty kicks to determine who will qualify. 

Last Tuesday, the Olympic team – headed by the French coach Mr. Richard Tardi – made his final practice at the Municipality Stadium in Beirut before leaving to Amman. Mr. Tardi, who called Sagesse’s defender Issa Ramadan to the team, explained that there are no players on the injury list and when asked about the match, he said that he would concentrate on the midfield, in addition to counter attacks and the defensive side of his formation. He also hoped that the match will end with a good result for Lebanon “at least with a positive draw”.

The Olympic team’s deligation to Jordan includes:
Adel Bisar (President), Rashid Nassar (Team’s manager), Richard Tardi (Coach), Wissam Khallil (Coach assistant), Adnan Itani (Keepers’ coach), Rony Fares (Physiotherapist) and Ziad Mizher (Equipments’ manager).

The players are:
Rony Azar, Paul Rustum, Agob Donabidian, Adham Ghaddar, Sami Shum, Mohammad Santina, Husein Tahan, Hassan Mizher, Khudor Najdi, Khaled Hamie, Ali Atat, George Sadek, Abbas Kana’an, Yihya Hashem, Abbas Atwi (Uniga), Mohammad Shahrour, Hamza Masri, Khalil Diab, Issa Ramadan and Ahmed Shum.

April 17, 2003