Receive news, analysis, and other content straight to your inbox by subscribing to Football Palestine (free or paid), here.
When the draw for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup was first conducted several prognostications had Palestine finishing third in their group and Qatar finishing first. In nine out of ten of those scenarios Palestine and Qatar would meet as the second round match ups are determined by which groups produce the best third place teams.
Palestine’s opponent in the second round changed several times between Tuesday and Thursday. For a while, it looked likely that Palestine would finish second and face Tajikistan on Sunday, January 28th.
Two goals for Iran were chalked off by VAR and UAE scored a late consolation goal in injury time to take their goal difference back up to +1, one above Palestine.
After the culmination of Group C’s games the overwhelming feeling amongst Asian Football experts was that Indonesia would not advance. In the event Tim Garuda could not garner an upset result against Japan and advance Palestine would most likely face Australia.
Indeed, Indonesia suffered a 3-1 loss. Their fortunes took another hit when Bahrain beat Jordan to capture second place earlier on Thursday. There was only one probable way for Indonesia to advance and for Palestine and Qatar to meet. It necessitated a draw or 1-0 Kyrgyz victory over Oman.
Eight minutes in, Oman were in the lead. Indonesia were toast. Palestine was set to play Australia and the winner of Saudi Arabia-South Korea in the event of a famous win over the Socceroos.
An 80th minute goal by Joel Kojo threw all those prognostications into dissarray. Oman tried to push forward but they simply did not have the legs. It was the latest in a series of surprise result at this Asian Cup and one that will see Palestine on the “easy” side of the bracket. A win over Qatar would mean Al-Fida’i face the winner of Uzbekistan vs. Thailand for a place in the semifinals of the tournament.
