In January of this year, Montenegrin coach Miljan Radović arrived in Jordan and took over Al-Ramta, with whom he won fourth place at the end of the season, which was characterized as a success at the time.
Meanwhile, the new season has begun, and Radović's team has started furiously - after five rounds, Al-Ramta is the leader with 13 points, has remained undefeated in three major derbies (won Al-Wehdat 1:0 and Al-Faisaly 1:0, drew with champions Al-Hussein 0:0), and has a goal difference of 7:0. This is the first time in the 21st century that a team in Jordan has not conceded a goal in five games at the start.
- We did not expect such a good start to the season, because some players were late for preparations. We have the fourth-fifth budget in the league. The plan is to develop the players, to try to be at the top of the table. We brought in some reinforcements, which we could within the budget. We started fantastically - after five rounds we are unbeaten, we are first in the table, we have a goal difference of 7:0. We did not concede a goal in five games, which is a record in Jordan in the 21st century. Last season we had two Olympic national team members (under 23), and now we have four Olympic and three A national team members. And that is seen as a great success. When you are a coach, what impresses you most is when a player progresses - Radović explained in an interview for "Vijesti".
Al-Ramta is a hit in Jordan.
- The entire public in Jordan is talking about us. The assessment is that we play more modernly, like the Jordanian national team, whose coach often comes to watch us. We most often play in a 3-4-3 formation, the public in Jordan says that we brought something new. Everyone is satisfied, and therefore we are satisfied too. The priority was not to do something at the start of the season, but to win as many points as possible. We divided the minutes wisely. We played three derbies, against Al-Wehdat, Al-Hussein and Al-Faisal and achieved a good result - said Radović.
Ramta has been a three-time champion, winning her last title four years ago.
- Ramta is one of the bigger clubs in Jordan, but they haven't been doing well financially lately, so they haven't been able to bring in reinforcements, and they've also had problems with FIFA. Now that's been resolved and the club is returning to its former glory. This season, the ambitions are to prepare the team as well as possible, to achieve the best possible result, and then next season to attack the title. This year we might even go to a continental competition.
With good results, the fans returned to the stadium.
- The fans have returned to the stadium, this season there are between eight and 10 thousand of them. We brought them back with the results, but also because most of the players are from Al-Ramta.
Radović arrived at the club in January and is satisfied with how his term at the club is going so far.
- The club had some problems with FIFA at the time and we couldn't bring in reinforcements, so we stayed with young players. Last season, the league was shortened, so our goal was to fight for survival. In the end, we finished fourth, and we settled the fight for the title - in the penultimate round we played a draw with Al-Hussein, we conceded a goal in the 94th minute. And then in the last round we played away to Al-Wehdat, for whom only a win was enough to secure the title. And we also played a draw against them, so Al-Hussein won the title.
Radović signed an 18-month contract, but the club already wants the cooperation to be extended.
- The club is asking about continuing cooperation, but it's still too early to talk about it, so we postponed negotiations. I came here to progress, to go even further. The league is good, but there are even better leagues - concluded Miljan Radović.
Euphoria over the World Cup
The Jordanian national football team recently qualified for the first time in history to the World Cup, which will be held next year in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
In a group with South Korea, Iraq, Oman, Palestine and Kuwait, second place was won, so there is, for good reason, euphoria in the country.
- Fantastic success. There is euphoria, but the public is realistic. The goal has been to qualify for the championship for some time. There are a lot of players from our league in the national team. It has resonated well. Everyone can't wait for the championship. The players are more motivated, that's all they talk about - explained Radović.
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