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Starting XI (4-4-2): Yassin Abdelhadi, Omar El-Kayed, Ibrahim Abuimier, Ali Rabei, Wajdi Nabhan (C); Ahmed Kullab, Hamza Hussein, Mohanad Hasanain, Anas Bani Owda (Samer Zubaida); Zaid Qunbar, Khaled Al-Nabris
Substitutions: Samer Zubaida <-> Anas Bani Owda 46′ // Gibran Haj Yousef <-> Mohanad Hasanain 64′ // Ahmed Kullab <-> Ahmed Daghim 73′ // Amro Rezeq <-> Wajdi Nabhan 88′ // Mohammed Abu Awad <-> Omar El-Kayed 88′
Cautions: Omar El-Kayed 52′, Wajdi Nabhan 73′
Goals: Anas Bani Owda (45′)
Recap: Palestine’s Pan Arab Games is over and for the first time since becoming a FIFA member in 1998 it will not participate in the knockout rounds of the tournament. The synopsis of what happened over the 90 minutes against Saudi Arabia could be summarized as follows: Palestine created problems and had opportunities but failed to take them. Saudi Arabia took a more measured approach and when Palestine made a mistake were ready to pounce.
Saudi Arabia started the better of the two sides but Palestine was presented with a decent chance to score in the 27th minute. Khaled Al-Nabris started the counter and drove the ball into the opposition third before squaring the ball to Zaid Qunbar whose shot from outside the box was ballooned over the bar.
A minute later, a throw-in targetting Zaid Qunbar in the Saudi box was flicked to Anas Bani Owda who then teed up Khaled Al-Nabris. The ball was in the net but the referee waved it off for a hand ball on Anas Bani Owda which seemed to start a series of calamitous events for Palestine.
A defensive lapse in transition allowed Saudi Arabia to spring the opener in the 37th minute. Anas Bani Owda was late in his covering run and whatever defensive solidity was supposed to be achieved by playing an additional midfielder was obliterated with El-Kayed and Rabei being exploited for their lack of concentration on the cross that led to the goal.
To their credit, Palestine responded instantly and Hamza Hussein’s slide rule pass found Khaled Al-Nabris who managed to win a penalty when his cross hit the arm of a sliding Saudi defender in the box.
Palestine’s Olympic team had missed three straight penalties in the last month and it would become four- after Anas Bani Owda saw his initial effort saved by Hamed Abdullah Yousef. The Shabab Al-Dhahrieh player was quick to react and bundled the ball home for the equalizer.
Ehab Abu Jazar went to his bench at half time and brought on Samer Zubaida for the goalscorer Anas Bani Owda.
Palestine had a golden opportunity to take the lead when Zaid Qunbar bolted down the right wing and sent a pinpoint pass to Khaled Al-Nabris who was one-on-one with the Saudi goalkeeper. The former Ismaily man should have scored with his weak effort kick saved by Yousef. Moments later an errant pass from the Saudi goalkeeper found Mohanad Hasanain who dawdled on the ball with a gaping net at his mercy- the ensuing shot falling wide of the target.
In the 61st minute a pair of defensive errors from Wajdi Nabhan and Ali Rabei opened the door for Saudi Arabia to score against the run of play.
Palestine threw numbers forward for the final half an hour to try and flip the score. Khaled Al-Nabris again missed from close range just a minute later after another deep pass from Hamza Hussein found him. Four minutes later he missed an even better chance after being teed up by Gibran Haj Yousef.
There were chances for Gibran Haj Yousef and Khaled Al-Nabris in between a scary counter that nearly resulted in a third Saudi goal.
As the game wore on though it became painfully obvious; Palestine was not going to score a goal, let alone two- ensuring Palestine’s slow motion exit from the competition.
What I Liked: I did not feel that the players gave up after faced with adversity. It is true that the breakthrough never came and that Khaled Al-Nabris missed a hat-trick of chances but there was a will to fight to the bitter end. The team cannot score at the moment but I rather have a team that can create chances but not score rather than a team that can score but not create chances. You have to figure that sooner rather than later the boys will come good.
What I didn’t Like: I don’t understand why we played another central midfielder to start with. The asymmetric formation did very little to help the team stamp their authority on the game. It is also a smack in the face to lose to a team that was, on average, two years younger than the one we fielded.
What’s Next: Syria has won the group courtesy of a 4-2 win over Mauritania and Saudi Arabia has finished second. They will face Sudan and Algeria, respectively in the semifinals. As for Palestine’s U23 team most will go back to their clubs- those based in Palestine will start their seasons with the Yasser Arafat Cup- scheduled to start on July 14th. Olympic qualifying begins in September and there have been no friendlies scheduled in the interim.
