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ENTERTAINMENT and ADVENTURE => Sports Watch => Topic started by: Folami David on Mar 28, 2013, 05:06 PM

Title: Jordan Reject Laser Claim At Japan Match
Post by: Folami David on Mar 28, 2013, 05:06 PM
Jordan on Wednesday denied accusations that lasers were shone in Japanese players' faces during their 2-1 World Cup qualifier loss to the kingdom, saying the claims seek to justify their loss.
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"Personally, I am surprised at these accusations. We did not hear or notice anything about laser," Salah Sabra, vice-president of the Jordan Football Association, told AFP.
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"The Japanese players themselves did not complain during or after the match yesterday."
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Japanese association president Kuniya Daini told reporters that goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima and midfielder Yasuhito Endo had the lights –which can cause eye damage – directed at them.
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"We will make a complaint," Kuniya told Kyodo News after the match at King Abdullah International Stadium in Amman.
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Japan's shock loss scuppered their hopes of early qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
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"Security measures were tough before and during the match. The police thoroughly frisked everyone," Sabra said, adding that 20,000 people attended the game.
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"We highly respect our Japanese friends but, personally, I think it is a weak attempt to cover up their loss."
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Endo insisted the lasers had not distracted him, but said players had been coping with them throughout the game.
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"We had the laser beams from the first half, but I didn't care. I knew I had the beam when I tried to hit a penalty shot. It didn't affect my play," said Endo.
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Daini said Japan would also be complaining about throat-cutting gestures made by two of Jordan's players that appeared to be aimed at coach Alberto Zaccheroni at halftime and at the end of the game.
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"One Jordan player was provocative throughout the game and I just tried to ask the reason why," the Italian coach said calmly after the game.