Date:
Fri, 11 Nov 2011 
Exactly a month back on 11th October at the Jalan Besar Stadium, the Singapore team had to swallow a difficult 3-0 defeat on the home turf to the Group A leaders with goals coming from Abdallah Salim, Anas Bani Yaseen and Ahmad Ibrahim.
With coach Avramovic serving his four-match ban incurred from the first game against China in Kunming, the Lions will once again have assistant coach, V.Sundramoothy dictating play from the bench while the Serb watches on from the stands at the King Abdullah II Stadium.
The Lions will have to overcome three key factors if they are to spring a surprise today. With seven U-23 players like Safuwan Baharudin, Izwan Mahbud and Shahdan Sulaiman all omitted from the squad due to the
SEA Games tournament in Jakarta. The six to eight degree cold weather in Amman. And finally, the gruelling two-day travel to reach their opponent’s lair, the boys have a tough slope to climb but if anyone can do it, it will be this crop of Lions.
Safuwan’s absence in the center of defence will mean that centurion Daniel Bennett will have a new partner most likely to be a choice between the trio of Noh Rahman, Ismail Yunos and Sevki Sha’ban.
A little higher in midfielder, Shi Jiayi and Hafiz Rahim are set to continue down the flanks while midfield general Mustafic Fahrudin returns from suspension to take his spot in the middle alongside Isa Hailm, unless coach Avramovic decides to plot Noh Rahman in the defensive midfield role.
Captain Shahril Ishak will have a role behind evergreen hitman Aleksandar Duric while newcomers like Patrick Brian Paranjody and firdaus Idros could prove to be the two offensive weapons coming off the bench.
At the pre-match press conference on Thursday, coach Sundramoorthy was a sea of calm when he addressed a room filled with about 20 Jordanian journalists.
He said: “We are here with a plan and as long as the players stick to the plan, we should be fine. A win here in Amman will put our World Cup campaign back on track but we know the strength and power of the opponents so it will be a tough task but not an impossible one.”
Midfielder Hafiz Rahim echoed his coach’s sentiments when he added: “We respect the Jordanians and we know they are a very strong side which is why they are at the top of the group now but that doesn’t mean we come here to lose. Like coach said, we have a game plan and the players will try to play according to it and get a positive result to head back to Singapore.”
Jordan national team coach arrived at the pre-match press conference seemingly in a relaxed mood ahead of the sold-out game that will be played in front of about 25,000 home fans and with a team brimming with confidence after three straight wins and nine points on the board, the local fans are definitely looking for a fourth straight victory on the trot to cement their spot at the top.
Lions midfield enforcer Isa Halim said it best when he made a statement by claiming, “We didn’t travel all the way here just to lose. We will put in a good fight and see where it takes us.”
Will the Lions show the same form as they did in their Group A opening match away in Kunming, China where they put on a solid display against the might of the Chinese or are the Jordanians just on a different level altogether?
Referee for the match will be Benjamin Williams from Australia and the game will kick off at 6.00pm local time.
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