After gritty draw against China, India to play Jordan in friendly for first time

New Delhi: The Indian men's football team will square off against Jordan in a friendly match on November 17 in Amman, which will be the first such encounter between the two sides.

"All India Football Federation confirms an international friendly for the Indian senior national team against Jordan. The match will be played in Amman on November 17, 2018," the AIFF said in a press release.

The match will be played at the King Abdullah II International Stadium and will kick off at 9.30pm (IST).

Jordan, who went down 1-2 to World Cup runners-up Croatia in their last friendly earlier this month, are currently ranked 110th, while India are placed 97th.

The two teams have never met in an International Friendly ever, though the India U-16 national team did play Jordan twice earlier this year. The Indian colts coached by Bibiano Fernandes won both their encounters.

The November friendly, which comes after India's gutsy goalless draw against China, will further set the pace for the national team's preparation for the AFC Asian Cup next year which kicks-off in UAE on January 5.

"The AFC Asian Cup is knocking at the door and as part of our preparation it's pertinent that the national team prepares in the best possible fashion by playing against stronger teams.

"Jordan are a very tough side who went down to World Cup runners-up Croatia 1-2 in their last match. It will be an acid test for us," Das said.

National Coach Stephen Constantine also felt that the match will be a "big test" for the team.

"This is going to be a really good game for several reasons. Firstly, Jordan is a quality team as we saw them in their 1-2 loss to Croatia the other day.

"We have to understand the level we are going to face in UAE and to be able to deal with it, we have to face tests like this. The game against China was a big test, and Jordan will be another one as well," Constantine said.

India have been clubbed in Group A with UAE, Thailand and Bahrain.

Constantine said the conditions in Amman are similar to the UAE which will eventually help the team get acclimatised for the continental championship.

"After we secured our qualification we knew we needed to play against those opponents who will put us under pressure from the start.

"Moreover, we'll play in Amman where the environment is very much similar to Abu Dhabi and Sharjah where we will play in January," he said.