Palestine Starting XI: Rami Hamadi, Musab Al-Battat, Mohammed Saleh, Michel Termanini, Mohammed Khalil, Amid Mahajna, Odai Kharoub, Mahmoud Abu Warda; Tamer Seyam, Zaid Qunbar, Oday Dabbagh
Substitutions: Mahmoud Abu Warda <-> Mohammed Rashid 60’ // Zaid Qunbar <-> Hassan Alaa Aldeen 69’ // Amid Mahajna <-> Samer Zubaida 82’ // Tamer Seyam <-> Islam Batran 82’ // Oday Dabbagh <-> Mahmoud Wadi 86’
Cards: None
Goals: Oday Dabbagh 12’ 60’, Zaid Qunbar 48’
Recap: On a Tuesday night in Doha, Palestine took the pitch at Al-Duhail stadium in an atmosphere that felt more familiar. The big venues of the World Cup stadiums hosting Palestine games alway felt peculiar to this writer. Matches featuring Palestine tend to be in far flung places, in small stadiums, with no more than a couple of thousand supporters watching on.
Al Duhail stadium had that feel with only a 10,000 person capacity and with many of the fans still filtering in when the teams made their way to the pitch.
Palestine understood the enormity of the occasion but responded by playing a cool, calm, and collected opening stanza. The culmination of that was a brilliant goal scored by none other than Oday Dabbagh.
The creator was the captain whose pinpoint crossing has been a feature of this team at the AFC Asian Cup. After a litany of missed chances at the tournament Dabbagh contained his excitement to celebrate with his team and throw up his crossed hands- a reference to the people of Gaza and the innocent Palestinians under Israeli administrative detention.
Palestine then proceeded to control the game, keeping Hong Kong at arm’s length. Oday Dabbagh was denied a second goal by Hong Kong Ka-Wing Tse.
Palestine were content with just a goal lead but they got off to the perfect start in the second half. Again Musab Al-Battat was the creator and this time he provided the youngest player in the squad with his first national team goal. Zaid Qunbar went to the sidelines with his teammate and once again flashed handcuffs above his head.
Things would get even better at the hour mark when Tamer Seyam unleashed a thunderous shot that rattled the Hong Kong crossbar. Clever anticipation allowed Oday Dabbagh to double his tally and for Palestine to take the lead up to 3-0.
Good news was coming in droves as news of Iran taking a 2-0 lead over UAE started to filter through the media tribune.
Over the final half Makram Daboub started bringing in substitutions to protect and preserve his players for the second round.
Injury time then took away Palestine’s status as the runner up when Iran gave up a late goal. There was also a controversial penalty awarded to Hong Kong in that same time frame which Everton proceeded to miss. Palestine pushed forward and tried to get the goal which would secure second place but it was not forthcoming.
In the end though, Palestine could celebrate with their raucous fans at Abdullah bin Khalifa stadium knowing they had accomplished history on two fronts. A first Asian Cup win and a first ever appearance at the knockout stages of an Asian Cup.
What I liked: Palestine were on the front foot from the first minute and they handled everything Hong Kong could throw at them with aplomb. Tactically speaking this was a masterclass from Makram Daboub who trusted his entire squad with the mission of getting a win and a place in the knockout rounds.
There were starts for Mohammed Khalil and Amid Mahajna which will allow key players like Mohammed Rashid and Camilo Saldaña to rest ahead of the Round of 16 encounter. On top of that, not a single player picked up a yellow card which means all healthy players will be available for selection.
What I didn’t like: I am not sure there is any criticism to be levied here. There were many so called experts tipping Palestine to struggle against Hong Kong. Those were the same people who said UAE were in a different class. Palestine have done what they were supposed to do and they did it by playing brilliantly after a horrendous opening game.
Man of the Match: Musab Al-Battat. I could make a case for Oday Dabbagh who had a brace and was brilliant but Al-Battat’s two assists show that he is one of the best, if not the best, right back at this tournament.
Record Setter: The focus coming in was on Tamer Seyam potentially equaling Fahed Attal’s goal record but it was Oday Dabbagh who grabbed the limelight. Opening the scoring in the 12th minute and putting Palestine ahead 3-0 at the top of the hour. The Jerusalemite now has 12 goals with the national team
What’s Next: Palestine are guaranteed a spot in the knockout round and will face Qatar on January 29th if Indonesia qualifies as one of the best runner ups. Should that not materialize, Palestine will face Australia a day earlier on January 28th.
