What: 2023 AFC Asian Cup Round of 16 Match
When: January 29th, 2023
Where: Al Bayt Stadium, Al-Khor, Qatar
TV/Streams: Our Substack subscribers will receive an email with a link to a live stream on the day of the game. Subscribe here:
Previous Encounters:
10.01.1972: Palestine 7:2 Qatar (1972 Palestine Cup)
20.08.1999: Palestine 1:0 Qatar (1999 Pan Arab Games)
31.03.2000: Palestine 0:1 Qatar (2000 Asian Cup Qualifying)
08.03:2001: Palestine 1:2 Qatar (2002 World Cup Qualifying)
23.03.2001: Palestine 1:2 Qatar (2002 World Cup Qualifying)
24.09.2003: Palestine 1:1 Qatar (2004 Asian Cup Qualifying)
27.09.2003: Palestine 1:2 Qatar (2004 Asian Cup Qualifying)
09.08.2008: Palestine 0:1 Qatar (2008 WAFF Championship)
28.05.2012: Palestine 0:0 Qatar (Friendly)
17.04.2013: Palestine 0:2 Qatar (Friendly)
25.12.2013:Palestine 0:1 Qatar (2014 WAFF Championship)
11.09.2018:Palestine 0:3 Qatar (Friendly)
Uncharted Territory
The goal since Palestine’s disastrous 2015 AFC Asian Cup campaign was to get back to the continental showpiece and put things right. Palestine badly wanted to show the rest of the world that it was here to compete and not merely participate. Their first shot at redemption five years ago in the UAE was foiled by ultra defensive tactics and an abnormally tough group.
Fast forward to January 2024 and Palestine have done what they needed to do. They were reasonably expected to lose to Iran, draw UAE, and beat Hong Kong to progress out of the group stage for the first time in their history.
Now what?
When you make history it often takes a while to register that you have made history. It took Jaka Ihbeisheh years to appreciate his goal at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup as a historic moment. There has been so much that has happened to this team over the last two weeks and three games it is hard to really process.
The team was knocked down a peg in their first game against Iran. In the first half against UAE, everything that could go wrong- did go wrong. Then something switched. Palestine rescued a draw in the first game and absolutely shellacked Hong Kong.
Job done. If not for a dodgy VAR review, Palestine would have finished second in the group, ahead of UAE.
Palestine now has absolutely no pressure to achieve a result but the question is will they be able to harness that energy positively and perhaps pull off an upset.
Who Are Qatar?
Five years ago, Qatar did what few thought was possible. They won the Asian Cup in spite of never having won a game in the knockout stages in their history before 2019. In fact, Qatar had not won a game at the AFC Asian Cup on neutral territory since 1984 before winning all their matches in 2019. They have now won 10 matches in a row but there are still more than one lingering question.
Tintin Marquez has been in his post for less than two months. He has tinkered throughout the tournament deploying three different formations and twenty different outfield players. Marquez is more like Felix Sanchez than the ultra negative Carlos Queiroz who was in the post until December but he has yet to really show us what he is about or how he wants to play.
Blast from the Past
Mahmoud Abu Warda, Mohammed Rashid, Michel Termanini, Oday Dabbagh, Musa Farawi, and Naim Abu Aker were all part of the squad that faced Qatar in that game at the 2018 U23 AFC Asian Cup.
Lining up against them that day were Akram Afif, Al-Moez Ali, Sultan Al-Brake, Tarek Salman, Bassam Al-Rawi, Khaled Muneer, and Meshaal Bersham.
The core of that team plus manager Félix Sanchez were elevated to the first team shortly thereafter and proceeded to lift the title.
This will be a litmus test for Palestine to prove how far they have come since. Akram Afif and Almoez Ali were heralded as the golden boys of the continent. Oday Dabbagh has since eclipsed them with his goalscoring feats at club level. With his first two goals at an Asian Cup in the bag, this could be the Jerusalemite’s coming out party.
No Pressure
If there was a theme from the press conference it was the fact that Palestine had everything to gain and nothing to lose. When Makram Daboub was asked about many team members being away from family for over 50 days, the Tunisian tactician responded:
“Many people think that the Palestinian player does not like to camp- of course it is hard being away from family in these difficult circumstances- but the team have been fantastic and they accomplished a great feat and I have the confidence that they will achieve more.”
There is a sense that this team will go for it and take advantage of the fact that no one expects them to win. Tamer Seyam lauded Makram Daboub’s style of play in the press conference after it was pointed out to him that he had racked up seven goals and three assists in his 20 appearances under the current coach.
Whatever Daboub is doing seems to be working wonders Musab Al-Battat is ranked second by Opta in chances created (6) and leads the competition in assists and tackles won. Tamer Seyam and Oday Dabbagh are tops in expected goals with 1.83 and 1.57 respectively.
The last two weeks have given Palestine fans much to cheer about. Perhaps there will be more to come on Monday.
