Nascimento pleased with Jordan’s strong start
Amman: Head coach David Nascimento expressed delight after Jordan began their AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026™ Qualifiers Group A campaign with a 4-0 victory over Lebanon on Monday,
Taking control from the outset in their Group A opener, Jordan produced an impressive display which will give them confidence ahead for their next fixture against Singapore on Sunday.
"I’m very happy to start the tournament like this, especially against a good team like Lebanon – they have some really good players,” said Nascimento. “I’m pleased not only with the result, but also with the way we played. We pressed them constantly, every time they had the ball and from those pressing moments we managed to score.“This performance gives the team confidence in how we defend and in the style we want to play, keeping the ball on the ground and playing an attacking game. I think we managed to do both today. When we had possession, we showed that we’re a good team.”While pleased with the performance, the Portuguese tactician stressed the importance of maintaining focus with three more matches left to play.
“Of course, it’s just the first game. It’s great to start this way, but we still have three more matches ahead and every team in this group is strong. I’m really, really happy – but we need to stay focused.”The win took Jordan to the top of Group A, ahead of Bhutan - who beat Singapore 3-2 - on goal difference. Defeat for Singapore was a bitter pill to swallow with their gameplan disrupted by several injuries during the course of the match.
“In total, we had to play about 17 minutes with just 10 players after four of our girls picked up injuries, which really affected us,” said the Southeast Asian side’s head coach Karim Bencherifa.“Four out of our five substitutions were made because of injuries, and that disrupted our rhythm.”Bencherifa, however, was satisfied with the overall performance of the players.
“While it was a tough match, I felt that we had enough chances to score more. The players gave their best — that’s something that can’t be taken away from them, even if we fell short of the result we wanted. There are still positives to build on.”The defeat means Singapore have to defeat Islamic Republic of Iran on Thursday to keep their qualification hopes alive.
