FIFA World Cup
Mousa Al Tamari came off the bench to score for the Jordanians 10 minutes into the second half, the France-based striker halving Argentina’s lead after Giovani Lo Celso and Lautaro Martinez had given Lionel Scaloni’s side a two-goal half-time lead.
Lionel Messi then scored with an 80th minute free-kick to take the three-times winners into the next round while the Jordanians made their way to the exit door after losses against Argentina, Austria and Algeria.
“As a first participation in the World Cup, I think the most important thing that can come out of this in terms of lessons is for the players to have experienced first-hand in what they were trained in,” said Sellami.
“I was always telling my players to develop themselves, to improve their fitness because they will be up against high level teams and they require high level fitness to stand against them.
“We also worked on improving their skill and now they are more aware of the requirements of such competitions. This is the main lesson. You may teach a lot, you can speak to any human, you can tell them things but when they see first-hand they learn better.
“My players are smart, they have their whole futures ahead of them. They played in three matches in this World Cup and they scored in each of them but against such high levels teams, small errors are costly.”
Qualification for their first-ever FIFA World Cup is a continuation of a major uptick in fortunes for the Jordanians, who also reached the final of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™.
That was the country’s best performance at the continental championship and Sellami admitted his players still had much to learn, including eradicating the mistakes that cost his team goals in all three of their FIFA World Cup encounters.
“This was our first experience and it was due to errors that we conceded goals, they happened in every match and they made a difference,” he said. “Argentina didn't have many chances, even though today's match wasn't an important game for them.
“We are out of the competition while feeling very proud of what we presented as a first time experience. We went in trying to learn as many lessons as we could and that's what we did.
“These are all gained experiences when it comes to our players. We gained an experience today and of course, it will benefit the players in all future competitions.”
Jordan will return to the AFC Asian Cup in January when the 2027 edition is hosted in Saudi Arabia with Sellami hoping his players will continue to grow after facing the world’s best.
“Our players are young, we have many young players who have much experience to gain,” he said.
“The most important thing in Jordanian football is to have more motivation, more incentives and to take advantage of all the winning factors and to have as many wins as possible in a higher level competition."
Photos: AFP
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