Currently in his second season with
perennial Cypriot champions APOEL,
the dribble-happy Jordanian winger’s
penchant for leading opposition full-
backs a merry dance could soon lead
to the 22-year-old making the obvious
move to a mainstream European
championship.
Voted the Cypriot league’s player
of the year last season, Al Taamari is
a classic wide man: short of stature,
as fast as an arrow, deft on the ball
and enormously creative.
Previously with Shabab Al Ordon
and Al Jazeera in his homeland, he
is as persistent as he is tricky and pacy.
If he does not beat his full-back first time
around he will keep trying until he does.
He is the itch a marker cannot scratch.
In truth, his nom de plume, “the
Jordanian Messi”, has not beenparticularly helpful and such comparisons
can be facile and corny. To the cynical
mind it spells unwarranted hyperbole.
But he patently does pose a genuine
advanced threat. With his quick feet and
audacity he can destabilise any defence,
capable of skipping past a man both
inside and out.
He is especially potent as a one-
man counter-attacking machine, either
leading the charge and playing in a
team-mate, making a clever decoy run
or taking sole charge of the manoeuvre.
Jordan’s 4-2 friendly loss to Paraguay
last autumn was the showcase for one
of his typically electrifying actions on the
break, receiving a pass wide on the right,
cutting inside, leaving two defenders for
dead before shooting emphatically home
with his trusty left foot.
Self-confident and bold, this is a playerwho prefers to march to the sound of his
own drum. During his formative years in
Jordan, rather than opting to join one of
the country’s “Big Two” – Al Faisaly andAl Wehdat – or ply his trade in one of the
many lucrative Gulf leagues, he was only
ever interested in moving to Europe.
He finally got his wish in July 2018(Yokohama F Marinos)
A logical choice
as the J.League’s
Most Valuable
Player for 2019,
the right winger
was much to the
fore as his side
claimed their first
championship in
15 years. A late-
bloomer at 27,
he specialises
in spectacular
solo goals.(Zulte Waregem)
Yet another of the
ever-growing band
of Canadian talent.
Sent out on loan
this season by
Turkish side
Besiktas, the
striker has taken
to the Belgian
league like a duck
to water, scoring
and making lots
of goals and
proving to be an
all-round menace.TERUHITO NAKAGAWA CYLE LARIN
MUSA AL TAAMARI
(APOEL)MOST WANTED Left-field Curios
His nom de plume,
“the Jordanian
Messi”, has not been
particularly helpful