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After weeks speculation, the Palestine Football Association finally revealed the squad called up to face Oman and Korea Republic in this month’s World Cup qualifiers. A contingent of players and the coaching staff arrived in the Omani capital of Muscat late on Sunday with the rest expected to join on Monday.
There were demands from fans for changes over the past month following
Palestine’s 1-0 loss to Iraq and 2-2 draw with Kuwait.
Some of that was fanciful (Adam Daghim) while other names that were floated were more reasonable (Mahmoud Eid, Badr Moussa, Hamed Hamdan). In the end, there is only one new face in the squad- left back Wajdi Nabhan- who has been enjoying a tremendous season for Al-Jazeera in Jordan with three assists and a goal to his name.
With Camilo Saldaña suspended and Samer Jondi out with a long term injury- Nabhan could very well be handed his debut against Oman. The only other left back in the side is Mohammed Khalil who has not started any of the previous four qualifiers in Round Three and did not play single minute last month.
With the personnel remaining the same; fans will be asking whether or not the team’s shape could change in a do-or-die match vs. Oman on Thursday.
The majority of fans would like to see a 4-3-3 with Rosenborg’s Moustafa Zeidan deployed as the most advanced midfielder. It remains to be seen whether Markam Daboub sticks to his guns and plays a 4-4-2 in Muscat.
The rest of the squad is as follows:
