Agency :
Jordan prepared for the upcoming AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 Qualifiers in the best possible manner, defeating Tunisia to lift the 2021 Arab Women’s Cup in Egypt late on Monday.
A solitary strike from Maysa Jbarah made all the difference in the decider, with the star striker finding the net five minutes from time to register her sixth goal of the tournament, and crown Jordan as the champions of a tournament featuring teams from both Asia and Africa.
The win capped a dream finale to a Jordanian campaign which began with a 3-1 group stage defeat against Algeria but sprung to life when Jbarah scored twice in a 4-1 win against neighbours Palestine.
David Nascimento’s side continued their resurgence with a thumping 5-2 win over tournament hosts Egypt in the semi-finals, with Monday’s victory over Tunisia completing their mission in the first tournament of its kind since 2006.
Her status as one of the all-time greats of West Asian women’s football may already be secured, but Jordan’s goal machine Maysa Jbarah added another chapter to her legacy with a brilliant return of six goals in four matches in Cairo.
A scorer in both the 2014 and 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cups, and the continent’s top scorer in qualifying for the 2018 edition, the 31-year-old has played professionally in France since the last time the continent’s best teams met three years ago and remains a force to be reckoned with for Al Nashmiyat.
Jbarah’s form is particularly welcome given Jordan are just weeks away from kicking off their qualifying campaign for the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, with pivotal matches against Bangladesh and Islamic Republic of Iran to be held in Tashkent on September 19 and 25 respectively.
