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Last month we took a look at the Goalkeepers, Defenders, and Midfielders plying their trade abroad that deserved a call from Makram Dabboub. To complete the series, we will finally cover the attackers plying their trade abroad that have done enough to earn a national team debut.
Depth isn’t an issue in attack for Palestine as it is in other areas of the pitch. In fact, it is a near guarantee that Tamer Seyam and Oday Dabbagh will start for Palestine at the Asian Cup. At the #9 position, it’s a three horse race between Mahmoud Wadi, Saleh Chihadeh, and Shehab Qombor but all three should expect to be on the plane to Korea/Indonesia/Qatar come June.
If Asian Cup squads are expanded from 23 to 26 as has happened in every major tournament since the COVID-19 pandemic then we could see the names featured on this list play important roles for the national team in the very near future.
Camil Jebara (Landskrona BoIS, Swedish Superettan, 19)
Back in June, Swedish born Samir Maarouf was called into the national team for Asian Cup qualification but had to pull out due to injury. In the time since, his star has arguably been outshone by Jebara who already has more goals (2), assists (1), and appearances (15) than his older counterpart.
Jebara’s breakthrough was rewarded last month with a new contract that will see the player stay with the club through the 2025 season.
Will He Join? The fact that Palestine goalkeeper Amr Kaddoura is his teammate at club level certainly helps. The right winger has also never represented Sweden at youth level which would make a perspective call up considerably easier.
Omar Faraj (Degerfors IF, Swedish Allsvenskan, 20)
Faraj is on the books of La Liga side Levante but he was loaned to the Swedish Allsvenskan to get more experience at the international level. The forward burst onto the scene with Brommapojkarna in 2020 with four goals and two assists to end the 2020 season. In 2021 he scored nine goals in 13 games in the Swedish third tier which convinced Levante to sign him to their academy.
He did well enough in the fourth tier of Spanish football scoring six times in 29 appearances and was given a run out in Levante’s last game of the La Liga season. The move to Degerfors IF is a litmus test for a player who has never played in the top two divisions of any league in Europe. The nature of a relegation battle will serve to assess Faraj’s readiness for a bigger stage.
He has scored twice in seven games- all starts- for Degerfors IF thus far this season.
Will He Join? Faraj has played for Sweden at youth level so Palestine will have to move quickly to secure his services. A potential avenue they could use to do that is Imad Zatara who is close to the player.
Nader El-Jindaoui (Hertha Berlin II, German Fourth Tier, 25)
When El-Jindaoui signed for Hertha Berlin over the summer there were rumors about why the move was made. The club said it was about signing a proven veteran who could help guide Hertha’s youngsters, cynics said the club was only interested in boosting its online presence, while scores of Palestinian fan pages on Instagram were convinced that El-Jindaoui would be playing in the Bundesliga.
While the Bundesliga might not be in El-Jindaou’s near future there is no denying his talent and ability. He arguably should be a division or two higher than where he is right now. Equally capable of dribbling down either flank El-Jindaoui really burst onto the scene last year when he scored 14 times and assisted 10 goals. The Berlin born attacker has already opened his account for Hertha this season but is set for a three month spell on the sideline following an LCL rupture.
Will He Join? Dabboub tried to call him for Asian Cup qualifiers in June but the player turned down the call citing family reasons.
