A look at the ‘predictions’ thread on kooora-Palestine in the days leading up to the Nepal match, you would see huge scorelines predicted in favor of our national team. As expected, the scoreless result changed the mood completely and there is a huge air of pessimism among the Palestinian fanbase.
The whole reasoning behind the optimistic predictions was our generally better record than Nepal’s in international matches. Thats it, simply, we are better on paper. But theres a saying: football isn’t played on paper, its played on grass. This holds entirely true here, a combination of Nepals good defense, home fans and general climate made all that superiority on paper disappear.
According to the press release from the reporter embedded with the National Team, the players entered the match somewhat nervous. Logically, you would expect them to feel that way as it was the opening qualifier in a hostile stadium. Right now the fans are also nervous, but this isnt the time for it. In these short burst tournaments, the important thing is to keep a cool head and not let a bad result bring you down, especially when the chances of qualifying are really not affected. I hope Ezzat Hamzah is telling the players exactly that.
