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The result was widely expected but Palestine’s young guns still had to take care of business. Palestine breezed to a 4-0 lead at halftime and added another in the second period to record their largest ever victory in U20 Asian Cup qualifiers.
The 5-0 win also featured four different goal scorers, meaning Palestine’s seven goals in qualifying have been scored by six different players. Palestine’s attempt to run up the score was hampered by a torrential downpour in the second half.
The opening goal of the game came after 11 minutes, an own goal capping off silky interplay that tore apart the Guam defence. Defender Khaled Abu El-Haija made in 2-0 from a corner kick three minutes later.
Monir Al-Badarin scored in the 28th minute before Danny Derbas added a fourth in the 40th minute. Al-Badarin was on the scoresheet again in the 63rd minute.
The convoluted qualification system for the U20 Asian Cup means that the results against the bottom side in the five team groups will be dropped whilst determining the best runners up.
Conventional logic in Palestine’s Group is that Guam will finish bottom and Japan- who trounced hosts Laos 4-0 earlier today- will finish top.
With Palestine drawing Yemen 2-2 on the first match day, margins of victory against Guam might go a long way in determining who finishes second in the Group.
Palestine now has the edge over Laos. The hosts managed a 3-0 win over Guam on Saturday. Yemen play Guam on the penultimate match day.
