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Palestine Starting XI: Rami Hamadi; Musab Al-Battat ©, Michel Termanini, Yaser Hamed Mayor, Camilo Saldaña; Odai Kharoub, Amid Mahajna; Tamer Seyam, Jonathan Cantillana (Mohammed Rashid); Zaid Qunbar (Alaa Aldeen Hassan 84’), Oday Dabbagh
Goals: Zaid Qunbar 13’
Cautions: Michel Termanini 51’, Amid Mahajna 55’, Camilo Saldaña 79’, Odai Kharoub 84’
HIGHLIGHTS
FULL MATCH
Recap: Palestine and Korea Republic took to the pitch on a chilly late afternoon day in Amman- one that felt like the first official day of the cold weather months. The narrative around Palestine was that they had joined the unliving- with prognosticators giving them only a four percent chance of advancing to the playoff round and a miniscule fraction of a percentage chance of qualifying directly.
Palestine were written off, fortunately for fans of Al-Fida’i they did not write back. That fighting spirit showed from the opening whistle in a stadium that was mostly empty but loud thanks to a boisterous group of Palestine supporters that did not stop singing.
Cheers grew louder when Zaid Qunbar opened the scoring on 13 minutes. Palestine’s press in the attacking third paid off the Jerusalemite duo of Qunbar and Dabbagh forced Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae into an errant back pass. Just as it looked as if Jo would be able to reach the ball Qunbar threw himself on the ground sweeped the ball away and then pirouetted while shooting to bamboozle the Korean backline.
Palestine’s happiness would be short lived with Korea captain Son Heung-min slicing through from the right flank into the box to collect a quick pass from Lee Jae-sung and finish low to Rami Hamadi’s far post.
The rest of the first half settled into a similar pattern as the first game in Seoul back in September. Korea had the possession but had very few ideas. Ten shots were taken but only three forced a save from Rami Hamadi.
Just before halftime Palestine launched a blistering counter attack and won a corner. The ensuing corner saw chaos ensue in Korea’s box and it looked like that Yaser Hamed might have won a penalty. A linesman flag ended up bailing out the Taeguk Warriors, the first of critical offsides calls that could have changed the outcome of the game.
In the second period, Hong Myung-bo went to his bench to try and find a winning formula. His opposite number was content to sit on his substitutes bringing on Mohammed Rashid for a spent Jontahan at the hour mark. Palestine had to survive a difficult 15 minute spell at the beginning of the second half. Korea even scored from a corner kick, only for a foul to be whistled in the build up.
Palestine had two good chances to produce a smash and grab. Tamer Seyam failed to connect properly with a ball floated in from the left flank by Amid Mahajneh. Five minutes later Seyam turned provider for Oday Dabbagh who squeezed through the Korean defence. The Charleroi attacker did well to get himself in position but his connection with a bouncing ball resulted in his shot flying over the crossbar from close range.
The linesman’s flag bailed Palestine out in the 83rd minute. Son had switched flanks and the Tottenham man thought he had beaten Camilo Saldaña and slotted a winner past Rami Hamadi. VAR was consulted but the Japanese crew upheld the decision.
Al-Fida’i were then able to see out the rest of the game by bunkering behind the ball and when the final whistle blew it felt like Palestine’s World Cup hopes- however faint- had been revived.
What I Liked: The Oman loss took a lot out of the supporters who were in full meltdown mode for the last five days. Palestine were definitely better than what the standings showed but could not score and were also victims of atrocious refereeing. For the team and the staff to regroup after the gut punch in Muscat is truly remarkable.
Palestine showed fight and that spirit is what has won the team so many admirers over the year. This campaign might be doomed to end in Round 3 but it will not be for a lack of trying.
What I didn’t Like: Makram Daboub’s reticence to use substitutions to change the match. I do not think that anything radical had to be done but perhaps bringing on Moustafa Zeidan for Odai Kharoub would have prevented the former from picking up a yellow card. In this particular instance he was vindicated for sticking to his guns as Palestine managed to pick up a point.
It came at a steep cost as Amid Mahajna, Odai Kharoub, and Camilo Saldaña will all miss the match against Jordan.
Records Tumble: Musab Al-Battat has surpassed Ramzi Saleh and is now- on 69 caps- Palestine’s second most capped international footballer eleven behind Abdelatif Bahdari.
Fans: Perhaps with the exception of the game against Australia in Kuwait City this was the only game where you could hear the fans throughout the match. Palestine are not going to be selling out any stadia (not if you leave it to this FA’s marketing tactics) but the fans that show up in Jordan are real football supporters. They know how to get behind a team and Amman should be Palestine’s home for the next two matches against Iraq (March 25) and Oman (June 10th)
Makram Rumor: Sources close to Football Palestine informed us that this would be Makram Daboub’s last match at the helm. Then he went out and clinched a famous result against Korea proving the first draw was not a fluke and that the 4-4-2 can work effectively in certain scenarios.
Daboub’s predecessor- Noureddine Ould Ali had his obituary read multiple times only for him to continue. Committees were formed after the 2019 Asian Cup, after the loss to Singapore, and after the loss to Yemen and yet he remained. Perhaps this is just history repeating itself?
The question is not really whether or not Daboub should be fired (he is nearing the natural end of his tenure anyway). The question is who do you hire to see out qualifying and build for the future? If Palestine want to progress they will need to invest a decent sum in a manager and coaching staff- something they have been reticent to do.
What’s Next: Palestine has no scheduled matches for the rest of the year. World Cup qualification picks up again in March 2025. Palestine will face Jordan in Amman on March 20th.
