Palestine Starting XI: Rami Hamadi, Musab Al-Battat (C), Yaser Hamed Mayor, Michel Termanini, Camilo Saldaña; Mohammed Rashid, Odai Kharoub, Mahmoud Abu Warda; Tamer Seyam, Zaid Qunbar, Shehab Qunbar
Substitutions: Mohammed Khalil <-> Camilo Saldaña (46′) // Yaser Hamed Mayor <-> Mohammed Saleh (46′) // Hassan Alaa Aldeen <-> Zaid Qunbar (65′) // Oday Dabbagh <-> Shehab Qunbar (65′) //
Cards: Michel Termanini 10′, Camilo Saldaña 39′, Tamer Seyam 42′, Zaid Qunbar 52′, Mohammed Khalil 83′
Goals:
Iran: Karim Ansarifard 2′, Shoja Khalilzadeh 10′, Mehdi Ghayedi 38′, Sardar Azmoun 55′
Palestine: Tamer Seyam 45+6′
Recap: How any Palestinian is able to function given the context of the ongoing genocide is something of a minor miracle. The air was heavy when the anthems played and while the biggest cheer was for Palestine before and after Fida’i played this was a partisan Iranian crowd. In one corner those that are for the regime and in another those that held very different views.
Chants of Iran, Iran, Iran were loudest and it took a full twenty minutes before a chant of Falastin! was heard and that died down pretty quickly.
On the pitch everything that could go wrong, did go wrong from a Palestinian perspective. Iran hoovered into space evacuated by Musab Al-Battat and a scrambling Yaser Hamed could not prevent the cross from going into the box. There was bedlam and in a flash there was Karim Ansarifard. The veteran put to bed any doubts as to how merited his call up to a fourth Asian Cup was merited or not by scoring in his fourth Asian Cup.
Palestine’s Michel Termanini gave up a free kick in an attacking position and received the first yellow card for his troubles. Things went from bad to worse as Shoja Khalilzadeh ghosted in past Yaser Hamed Mayor at the far post. It would be some of the last action either player would see on the night.
In the 32nd minute, Palestine won a corner thanks to the industriousness of Zaid Qunbar. A unique dispatch resulted in Beiranvand being called into action for the first time- his parry clearing any and all danger. It seemed as if Palestine were beginning to settle only for a third goal to arrive. Mohammed Rashid thought he had put in a fantastic tackle to snuff out Alireza Jahanbaksh only for the ball to fall perfectly to Karim Ansarifard. A quick one-two unlocked acres of space and Ghayedi was teed up with the goal at his mercy. 3-0 to Iran.
In the midst of a very deep and very dark hole- Palestine found some light. The last kick of the first half featured a free kick dispatched by Abu Warda. The smallest player on the pitch put in a ball that caused big panic in the Iranian rearguard. Tamer Seyam then popped up with a header to score Palestine’s first goal of this Asian Cup.
It was the first goal at an Asian Cup since 2015 when Jaka Ihbeisheh scored a late consolation against Jordan in Melbourne. Ironically that goal also came from a poorly cleared free kick.
Both managers went to the bench at half time. Iran had the luxury of bringing on Sardar Azmoun and Mohammed Mohebi. Palestine opted for defensive reinforcements. On came on Mohammed Khalil and Mohammed Saleh for Camil Saldaña and Yaser Hamed.
Things tightened up, but not nearly enough. Azmoun got his goal ten minutes into the second half. With the Qunbar brothers bashing but not at all effective a double substitution saw the star man Oday Dabbagh and the mercurial Alaa Aldeen Hassan enter the fold.
Those two players experienced a degree of joy as Iran looked to protect their lead. The pair look likely to play a bigger role in the games that are to come.
Al-Fida’i had their own dalliance with VAR at the end of the match with a red card being shown and then being revoked for Mohammed Saleh’s foul on Azmoun.
Palestine always knew the first match would be the toughest and it will be left to Makram Daboub to get the team to look past this heavy defeat and focus on the positives.
What I Liked: The goal. I was a young man and Football Palestine was just a blog the last time Palestine scored a goal at an Asian Cup. I can’t explain it but losing 4-1 is so much better than losing 3-0 or even 2-0 playing bunker ball. Now that we got the monkey off our back after four scoreless games and no goals for four consecutive Asian Cup Games we can focus on things that matter.
I also think that Makram Dabboub made bold and correct choices at halftime. Yaser Hamed Mayor picked the worst time to have his worst game with the national team. Sentiments were not spared when he was hooked. A more robust defender was required to shore up Iran’s right flank- Khalil did that.
What I didn’t Like: I have to say that the crowd was disappointing. There was a crowd of 27,000 at Education City but it was Iranian supporters that made the noise. It was even fans of Team Melli who started chanting for Palestine at the hour mark. Honestly, this crowd got to see more attacking play in one game than we did in the entirety of UAE 2019. They were like library mice.
On the pitch, I thought the players- particularly the defenders- played scared. Yes Ghoddos was amazing but I thought we could keep this game to within a one goal difference. Those who failed to assert themselves have to pick themselves up and redouble their efforts.
Man of The Match: Saman Ghoddos. I usually don’t hand out this award to players on the opposing team but this was the best individual performance at the tournament so far. Assisted the first two goals and the third was the result of his fabulous line-breaking pass.
What’s Next: Palestine take on United Arab Emirates who were the beneficiaries of two penalty calls in their 3-1 win over Hong Kong on Thursday, January 18th. Kickoff is set for 19:30 Jerusalem Time.
