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As has become customary, Palestine were the last team in Asia (well, besides the super secretive North Korea) to reveal its squad ahead of the start of the international break on Monday. The squad of 27 players are expected to travel to Basra tomorrow to begin preparations for Thursday’s match against Iraq.
The big question facing Palestine was the health of its vice captains and it seems that only one- Tamer Seyam- will be healthy enough to play a role in the upcoming qualifiers against Iraq in Basra (October 10th, 9PM) and Kuwait on neutral ground in Doha (October 15th, 7PM).
Rami Hamadi’s rehabilitation at Aspetar has been progressing well with the goalkeeper now able to run on his injured ankle. In an abundance of caution it seems that the coaching staff has turned to other options instead of rushing their talisman back to the field of play.
Amr Kaddoura is part of the squad for the first time since the Asian Cup and is expected to start for the first time- in an official match- since the FIFA Arab Cup in 2021.
The Hittin native has enjoyed a fine season for Landskrona BoIS who are currently second in the Superettan and on pace for promotion. Kaddoura has recorded nine clean sheets on the season and tallied 77 saves in 26 appearances conceding 28 goals.
There are also returns for Alaa Aldeen Hassan and Mohammed Saleh who were thought to have been out of favour. Saleh dodged a call up last month while Hassan had been left out of the squad since March after throwing a tirade following his substitution vs. Bangladesh.
Ameed Sawafta and goalkeeper Mahdi Assi are the other new additions to the side. The rest of the squad is as follows:
