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Starting XI: Abdelhadi Yasin, Omar El-Kayed (Abdullah Al-Shurafa 88′), Ali Rabei, Ibrahim Abuimier, Wajdi Nabhan (C), Ahmed Kullab, Mohanad Hasanain (Anas Bani Owda 56′), Hamza Hussein (Sadeq Obaid 71′), Samer Zubaida (Gibran Haj Yousef 71′), Mohammed Direya (Mohammed Sandouqa 56′), Zaid Qunbar
Coming into Saturday night’s crucial U23 AFC Asian Cup/2024 Olympics qualifier Palestine had to confront a harsh reality. Al-Fida’i had never beaten Japan nor had they ever even managed to get a point off of the Blue Samurai. Well, that is if you don’t count a 3-2 victory in Futsal back in 2001. In 11 v 11 at any level Japan had dominated and were expected to dominate this encounter.
The generation that included the likes of current national teamers Mohmammed Rashid, Musa Farawi, Mahmoud Abu Warda, Michel Termanini, and Oday Dabbagh came closest to knocking off Asia’s best team. It came in the first game of the 2018 AFC Asian Cup finals. A 1-0 loss was the springboard Palestine needed to get out of a group that included Korea DPR and Thailand.
Most fans would have taken a 1-0 loss given the fact that the Palestinians had three points in the bag following a last gasp victory vs. Bahrain. That’s what the fans got- an honorable 1-0 loss against a team with several professional players plying their trade in Europe.
Abdelhadi Yasin had to be at his best, he made some incredible saves but in general this was a mature performance. Al-Fida’i had a game plan they cause problems on the counter and won set piece opportunities. Japan huffed and puffed and earned this 1-0 win. Is Palestine as good as Japan? No. Would they beat Japan on a different day? Probably not. That is not the question people should be asking.
The sad thing about tonight’s result is that Palestine is going to need a miracle to qualify. They could beat Pakistan by more than the six goal margin Japan did and still go home.
One must ask if the AFC really has the best qualification methodology for determining the strongest 16 teams in Asia at this level. The only improvement made in the system was to ditch the East/West Zonal system but with uneven groups a certain injustice remains. Withdrawals from qualifying have meant there are even more three team groups- four in total. Which means that a redraw could have been conducted to reduce the teams to three.
It should not be a prerequisite to avoid defeat against Japan to qualify for a sixteen team tournament especially when you have proven your mettle against the other teams in the group. The frustration of Palestine’s plight was on full display in the dying embers of the game as Palestine picked up all three of their bookings in injury time.
Palestine plays Pakistan on Tuesday. They must win to have any chance of advancing. They can still win the group should Bahrain upset Japan but that would also require they beat Pakistan by at least seven goals.
The other scenario would be to finish second and hope that the point haul (3) and goal difference (0) is good enough to punch a ticket to the finals in Qatar. The way things have panned out that most likely will not happen.
The good news for this generation is that they can get a small modicum of revenge later this month at the Asian Games and that six of the 22 players will be eligible to participate in qualifying for the 2026 U23 AFC Asian Cup. If Palestine beats Pakistan and finishes second their effort will not be in vain as their seeding for that tournament will improve as a result.
