The Lebanese men’s team will be one step away from reaching the final of the Asian Basketball Cup if they overtake their Jordanian counterpart in the semi-final match, which will be held on Saturday, July 23 at 16:00 Beirut time at the Istora Senayan Hall in the Indonesian capital Jakarta .

And all the circumstances seem to be ready for the rice team to play in the final match on Sunday, because her career in the current continental competition is outstanding and perfect, as she won all her matches in the tournament without a single defeat, respectively losing , Philippines, New Zealand (one of the candidate countries for the title) and India by a wide margin in the round. They first topped the fourth group and then beat China (one of the title candidate countries) to the quarter-finals, and here is the Lebanese team booking a place in the last square, looking to advance to the final match to play the final meeting with the winner of the match Australia- New Zealand in the second semi-final.

As for Jordan, Jordan finished the first round in second place in the first group behind Australia, after Jordan fell short of the leaders. .In the quarter-finals, the Jordanians outplayed the Iranians, beat them and knocked them out of the competition.

As everyone knows, the semi-final consists of two Arab countries, Lebanon and Jordan, and two countries from the Oceanic continent, namely Australia (the title holder of the last draw held in Lebanon in 2017) and New Zealand. , Jordan, Australia and New Zealand, the four largest continents of the Asia-Ocean region.

Fourth meeting

The meeting between Lebanon and Jordan will be the fourth between them this year, as the two teams met last February at the Arab Championships held in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Lebanon won on their way (64-52), which ended for the first time in its history won the great Arab title. The two teams faced each other in the Jordanian capital Amman in the “second window” of World Cup qualifiers where Jordan won (74-63). The “third window” of the World Cup qualifiers, Lebanon avenged their first leg defeat and beat Jordan (89-70) in a meeting in which the Lebanese players put on a big show.

Lebanon is aiming to reach the final round of the Asian Cup for the fourth time in its history after 2001, 2005 and 2007, with the goal of winning the prestigious continental title at team level for the first time. , after clubs Al-Hikma and Al-Riyadi had previously won the Asian Club Championship several times.

If Jordan (39th in the world and 8th in Asia) is ahead of Lebanon (54th in the world and 9th in the mainland) in the classification at present, Jordan has reached the final of the Asian Cup once in 2011 and we will see great progress of the two teams in the international and continental classifications after the end of the Asian Cup competition, especially in Lebanon. He led the third Asian group in the World Cup qualifiers after the end of the “third window”, leaving Jordan one point behind, noting that the path of Lebanon and Jordan paved the way to qualification for the 2023 World Cup (Lebanon participated 3 times and Jordan twice).

Great Lebanese Deals

There is no doubt that the performance of the Lebanese team in the current Asian Cup was highly appreciated by the observers, as the players of the Kedr team proved that they are able to go far in the competition.

Lebanon manager Jad Al-Hajj has a constellation of stars in all positions, with a Lebanese roster consisting of captain Ali Haidar and players Wael Arakji, Ali Mezher, Ali Haidar, Karim Ezzedine, Karim Zainoun, Hayek. Kökdjian, Youssef Hayat, Jonathan Arledge, Gerard Hadidyan, Sergio Darwish, Eli Chamoun. The Lebanese squad has a tight defense and many players who can shoot from all distances and are distinguished by a high level of technical skills, including speed.

In this context, the Lebanese Basketball Association, led by Akram Halabi, continues to keep in touch with the Lebanese delegation around the clock to learn about its preparations and encourage them to do their best to bypass Jordan and reach the final match with the support of Lebanese of all age groups at home and abroad. who accompany the team on their march with the Asian Cup and rejoice at the results achieved, hoping that Lebanon will continue its successful path.

As for Jordan, led by coach Wissam Al-Sous, he focuses in particular on three Mafteh players, Dar Tucker, Freddy Ibrahim and Ahmed Al-Duwayri, with the knowledge of Lebanese coach Jad Al-Hajj that the match against Jordan is not should ignore the victory over China and focus on the meeting with the Jordanians in the “Classico”. “West Asia seriously…