Thousands of Jordanians celebrate national football team stars

Amman: The Jordanian Football Association held a large public reception and honoring ceremony for the national football team on Monday evening, following the historic achievement of reaching the final match of the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar. The ceremony, titled "Welcome Champions," was attended by Her Royal Highness Princess Ayah bint Faisal, His Royal Highness Prince Omar bin Faisal, Her Royal Highness Princess Sarah bint Faisal, Her Royal Highness Princess Aisha bint Faisal, and Minister of Youth Mohammad Salameh Al-Nabulsi. The ceremony began with the Royal Anthem played by the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) - Arab Army Band, followed by a minute of silence in mourning for the souls of the martyrs of the Gaza Strip, which has been under Israeli occupation aggression for 129 days. The stands of the Amman International Stadium were filled with a large crowd that interacted with the team stars, chants, and folk songs. The Amman Stadium saw several events in which the JAF Band participated. The stars' journey wi th the national team and the achievements they made in the tournament were reviewed. The stars of the national team signed souvenir balls that were randomly given to the audience, and the ceremony also included a drone show that raised the words "Thank you, Nasahma" and "You made us proud". On the sidelines of the ceremony, the national team coach, Moroccan Hussein Ammouta, said: "The real heroes are the players who lived up to the responsibility." National team captain Ihsan Haddad said that royal and public support was the biggest incentive, adding that the public presence is a message to the government to provide support for Jordanian sports. For his part, national team star Mahmoud Mardi, who raised the slogan "It is the cause of the honorable" at the beginning of the tournament, confirmed that the achievement and the joy of it did not make the national team stars forget the Palestinian cause and the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, stressing that all the players were constantly following the dev elopments of the situation in the Strip. The ceremony was also attended by the Football Association Vice President, Marwan Jumaa, its Secretary General, Samar Nassar, and the Olympic Committee Secretary General, Rana Al-Saeed. Source: Jordan News Agency