Palestine Starting XI (4-4-2): Rami Hamadi, Musa Farawi (Musab Al-Battat), Mohammed Saleh, Yaser Hamed Mayor, Samer Jondi; Mohammed Darweesh (Mohammed Rashid), Mohammed Yamin, Joaquin Abdala (Mahmoud Abu Warda); Saleh Chihadeh (Badr Moussa), Tamer Seyam, Mahmoud Wadi (Oday Dabbagh)
Substitutions: Mohammed Rashid <-> Mohammed Darweesh 20′ // Musab Al-Battat <-> Musa Farawi 60′ // Badr Moussa <-> Saleh Chihadeh 60′ // Oday Dabbagh <-> Mahmoud Wadi 67′ // Mahmoud Abu Warda <-> Joaquin Abdala 67′
Goals: Oday Dabbagh p. 85′
Recap: As far as game plans go, Mongolia could not have scripted the first half of proceedings any ore perfectly. Palestine struggled to unlock the defence of the hosts and despite recording four corners in the first half and coming close to scoring twice through Mahmoud Wadi the game lacked a certain verve and energy.
The running theme of the first half was a lack of quality service from the flanks. This was an issue particularly on the left flank where Samer Jondi was tasked with occupying the space vacated by Saleh Chihadeh. The debutant was solid enough in defence but seemed nervous when on the ball repeatedly slamming crosses into Mongolian defenders. To his credit his play improved in the second half and he managed to stay on the pitch for 90 minutes. With Musab Al-Battat coming in for Musa Farawi on the hour mark.
Makram Dabboub’s side managed to record a 2:1 ratio in terms of possession, passes attempted, and passes completed in the first half but the pace of the game was slow allowing Mongolia to defend deep and in numbers.
The horrendous state of the pitch in Ullaanbataar most certainly did not help as rubber pellets flew into the air with every pass, shot, and cross attempted by either side.
Palestine upped the tempo in the second half and looked far more dangerous there were good opportunities to open the scoring but Palestine continued to fluff their lines.
Makram Dabboub went to his bench in the 60th minute bringing on Al-Battat and Badr Moussa in place of Saleh Chihadeh and Musa Farawi.
Palestine continued to pour forward and looked far more dangerous when the rest of the cavalry was called in. Mahmoud Abu Warda and Oday Dabbagh entered with a quarter of an hour to go and were creating danger every time Palestine advanced up the pitch.
A breakthrough seemed unlikely until Tamer Seyam won his side a penalty. It was hard to judge which moment in the action was deemed a handball as Tamer Seyam fired towards goal and then collected the keeper’s parry and fired in cross.
It seemed somewhat of a harsh call but fair given the fact that a blatant foul on Mohammed Yamin inside the box was waived away earlier in the half.
Given his recent miss for Shabab Al-Khalil, Tamer Seyam elected to give the responsibility of taking penalty kick to Oday Dabbagh.
The 23 year old Jerusalemite made no mistake from the spot burying the shot into the side netting and giving Palestine the win their performance just about deserved.
What I liked: The resilience. Social media is going to lay into the side for not winning by a large scoreline. If Mahmoud Wadi or Saleh Chihadeh had finished their chances in the first half or early in the second then we might have seen a win by a wider margin. That said, qualifying is about results. Results are difficult to get when you are playing away from home on a subpar pitch against a team packing the box with 8 or 9 players. It gets harder when calls don’t go your way and your attackers are having an off day in front of goal.
By one or 100, a win is a win. Palestine got the three points and that means the pressure is squarely on the other teams in the group.
What I didn’t like: Mohammed Darweesh went off injured 20 minutes in and go subbed by a like for like replacement. It should have been obvious then that Mongolia was not going to threaten Palestine and that Abdala or Yamin could cover his more defensive responsibilities. The question has to be asked as to why Palestine didn’t make a change to play on the front foot.
In any case the gamble worked out as the likes of Oday Dabbagh, Musab Al-Battat, and Mahmoud Abu Warda will be fresh and raring to go vs. Yemen on Saturday.
Man of the Match: By default it has to go to Oday Dabbagh. That said, I thought Abu Warda did an excellent job of wreaking havoc when he came on.
What’s Next: Palestine face Yemen on Saturday June 11th at the same venue. Kickoff is set for Noon Jerusalem Time.
