Al-Wehdat SC vs Bengaluru FC :- ACL Preliminary round 2.
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Turkish occupied Cyprus29923 Points
After making history by reaching the final of the AFC
Cup last season, India’s champions Bengaluru FC will
now be eyeing for qualification to the AFC Champions
League 2017, Asia’s premier club competition that
features clubs from top ranked teams like Japan, China,
Korea Republic, Iran etc. The first hurdle on the road to
the AFC Champions League 2017 is going to be
Jordan’s Al-Wehdat SC.
Indian clubs do not have a direct entry to the AFC
Champions League. Rather, the Indian champion has to
play in the Preliminary Rounds in order to qualify for the
tournament’s group stage. No Indian club has ever
made it to the Group Stage of the AFC Champions
League. Mohun Bagan have been the best performers,
reaching the Preliminary Round 2 in 2016, where they
were handed a 6-0 thrashing by China’s Shandong
Luneng who went on to reach the Quarterfinals of the
tournament.
This year, Bengaluru FC will participate in the Qualifying
rounds and have also received a bye to the second
round of qualifying. Bengaluru’s journey ahead will
depend on their match against Jordan’s reigning
Champions – Al-Wehdat SC.
Know Al-Wehdat SC
History of the club
Al-Wehdat SC is a sports
club that is based in
Amman New Camp, which
is a Palestine Refugee
Camp, also known as Al-
Wehdat.
Nicknamed Al-Mared Al-
Akhdar, or the Green Giants , it
was founded in 1956 under
the name Al-Wehdat Youth
Center Al-Wehdat Sports
Club in 1974 but was renamed to Al-Diffatain Sports
Club for a period of two years i.e. from 1986 to 1988.
Honours
In the illustrious history of 61 years, Al-Wehdat SC have
to their name a long list of achievements and honours.
The current Jordan League champions have won the
league title for a total of 15 times from 1980 to 2016.
Apart from the league titles, Al-Wehdat have also won
the Jordan FA Cup 10 times, the Jordan FA Shield 8
times and the Jordan Super Cup for 12 times, taking
their total tally of trophies won to 45.
Al-Wehdat have been the second most dominating clubs
in the Jordan League after Al-Faisaly.
Performances in Asia
AFC Champions League: Al-Wehdat have not been able
to Qualify for the group stage of the AFC Champions
League. The closest they got to qualifying was last year
when they were edged out by Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad in
the Play-off round.
AFC Cup: Al-Wehdat have made 9 appearances in the
AFC Cup but have not been able to win the title. They
have been to the Semi-Finals of the tournament on 3
occasions in 2006, 2007 and 2011.
Stadium and Fans
Al-Wehdat SC play their home matches at the King
Abdullah II Stadium in Amman. This will be the venue for
AFC Champions League Qualifiers clash between
Bengaluru FC and Al-Wehdat. The stadium has a
capacity of 13,000.
Al-Wehdat have the largest number of fans in Jordan.
The club’s home matches generally see a decent
turnout and they gather support even away from home.
Squad and Coaching Staff
Al-Wehdat’s first team squad contains a good number
of current and former senior national team players.
Goalkeeper Amer Shafi, young forward Baha’ Faisal,
experienced defender Mohammad Al-Dmeiri and veteran
Abdallah Deep have all been part of the Jordan national
squad during the FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers.
The club’s coaching staff is lead by Head Coach Adnan
Hamad, who took over the reins in 2016. Adnan has in
past played for and coached his home
country, Iraq. Adnan has also coached Jordan and
Bahrain’s national sides and also guided Al-Faisaly to
the 2006 AFC Cup triumph as their coach.
Form
The 2016-17 season of the Jordan Premier League is at
its halfway mark and Al-Wehdat are currently sitting at
the second spot, 1 point behind table leaders Al-
Jazeera. So far, Al-Wehdat have accumulated 24 points
from 11 matches, winning 7, drawing 3 and losing 1.
In the last 5 matches, Al-Wehdat’s form has been – W
W W W D
Bengaluru FC have seen unprecedented success in the
short span of 3 years. Two I-League titles, one
Federation Cup and the best of them all, becoming the
first Indian club to reach the AFC Cup final in 2016.
Bengaluru FC would now be looking forward to qualify
for the AFC Champions League, adding one more
feather to their cap but to do so, they will have to beat
the formidable Al-Wehdat that too in their home. BFC can create history by losing less then 6-0 but it is very difficult for a team which loses to Churchill.
AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2017 –
QUALIFYING ROUND 2
Al-Wehdat vs Bengaluru FC
King Abdullah II Stadiumm, Amman, Jordan
January 31, 2017 – 9:30 PM IST
Broadcast: TBA
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Source: Goal.com