BARCELONA: A feature of Jordan’s rise to footballing prominence over the past two years has been their fearsome attacking triumvirate. Stade Rennais’ Musa Al-Taamari might win all the plaudits but his partners in crime, Ali Olwan and Yazan Al-Naimat, scored the goals that delivered World Cup qualification and appearances at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup and 2025 FIFA Arab Cup finals.
Unfortunately for fans of the Nashama, Olwan and Al-Naimat have picked up injuries, with the latter ruled out of the World Cup finals. Who will help Al-Taamari shoulder the load is now an open question, but a 22-year-old might have provided an answer last week in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
Ali Azaizeh was a surprise signing for Al-Shabab in January but the pair are proving to be the perfect match. The Jordanian attacker was overlooked by the senior national team before the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup. After Jordan’s run to the final the young guns favored to make the World Cup squad were Odeh Fakhoury, who parlayed his tournament performances into a move to Pyramids FC, and Goztepe’s Ibrahim Sabra.
Azaizeh was left to captain the U-23 national team, a responsibility he took on with gusto. Two goals and an assist against Saudi Arabia and the winner against Kyrgyzstan sent Jordan to the quarterfinals of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup. Azaizeh scored again against holders and eventual champions Japan but the team were eliminated after a penalty kick shootout.
Four goals saw Azaizeh finish as the tournament’s top scorer and opened the door for a short-term loan move to Al-Shabab. It was a gamble but Azaizeh has been betting on himself for the past year.
He was part of the 2020-21 Al-Ramtha side that won the league and the Supercup in Jordan but a move abroad did not present itself until last year. Al-Khaldiya of Bahrain offered him a six-month loan move and he repaid the faith placed in him by scoring crucial goals that helped the team to a cup double.
Kuwaiti side Al-Kazma beat Jordanian giants Al-Faisaly for his signature last summer, offering him a three-year deal. When Al-Shabab came calling after his standout performances at the U-23 Asian Cup, Azaizeh doubled down.
“(Jordan manager) Jamal Sellami has been challenging players to play at the highest level possible,” Mohammad Alrfae, a video analyst for the Jordanian FA, who worked with Azaizeh when he was part of Jordan’s U-20 team, told Arab News.
“The standard is so high that even the best players in the Jordanian League (Al-Faisaly’s) Ahmed Ersan and (Al-Hussein’s) Yousef Abu Jalboush are out of the squad.”
Al-Shabab only offered a six-month loan deal, and while it seemed a risky move it proved to be fortuitous timing as Kuwait’s league shut down as a result of the war with Iran. Since then, Azaizeh has gone from strength to strength, turning cameo experience into starts before scoring a brace against Al-Qadsiah in a 2-2 draw on April 14. The two goals showcased the attacker’s ability to score in different ways. The second goal was a simple tap-in, but it was his debut goal where he stormed down the right wing, cut into the box, and finished at the far post that had fans clamoring for his loan to be made permanent.
“It reminded me of Messi’s goal against Bayern Munich in 2015 when he left Boateng in his dust,” Alrfae said.
On Thursday night, Al-Shabab will face Al-Rayyan of Qatar in the 2025–26 AGCFF Gulf Club Champions League final, but it has been a challenging few years for the club.
Al-Shabab were once part of the league’s upper echelon, challenging the established powers of Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, and Al-Ittihad. Their last league title came in 2011-12 and it has been a steady decline since. Fans of the club were irate when the PIF invested in the Big Three and chose to invest in Al-Ahli Jeddah instead of Al-Shabab.
A pair of mid-table finishes and a whopping six permanent managers since have led to the bottom falling out this season. Al-Shabab have never been higher than 11th in the table and the remit of Noureddine Zekri since taking over in February has been to stem the bleeding.
Azaizeh’s recent run of starts is a breath of fresh air to a team that has featured 39-year-old Marcelo Grohe in goal, 36-year-old Ali Al-Bulaihi in defence, and 35-year-old Abderazzak Hamdallah in attack. Zekri has counted on that experience to rescue a season, but perhaps the Jordanian can be part of a newly constructed Al-Shabab team next season.
Azaizeh’s signing symbolizes what Al-Shabab and the Saudi Pro League want to evolve into: a league with established stars bolstered by young talent. The league has taken steps to reduce the average age of the league, allowing players as young as 16 to be registered and reserving two of the 10 foreign-player slots for players under the age of 21. That rule was used to sign Azaizeh, who recently turned 22, and he will have to compete with established international stars for a place in the team. The hope for Azaizeh and other Saudi Pro League players is that they become integral pieces in a long-term plan.
There is the small matter of the World Cup before that. Jordan coach Jamal Sellami is still puzzling over the absence of Yazan Al-Naimat and Azaizeh’s form could see him crack the starting lineup.
Alrfae is confident that the youngster could fill the role, and said: “Ali understands the difficulty of his position. He’s competing with the likes of Musa Al-Taamari and (West Bromwich Albion’s) Tammer Bany Odeh … but he’s playing at a really high level that could see him start, or at the very least contribute as a super sub.”
