Palestine Starting XI: Rami Hamadi, Musab Al-Battat ©, Michel Termanini, Amid Mahajna, Ahmed Taha; Odai Kharoub (Mahmoud Abuwarda 82′), Ataa Jaber, Hamed Hemdan (Zaid Qunbar 69′); Tamer Seyam (Adam Kaied 59′), Oday Dabbagh (Assad Al-Hamlawi 82′), Wessam Abou Ali
Goals:
PLE- Wessam Abou Ali 88’, Amid Mahajna 90+6’
IRQ- Aymen Hussein 34’
Cautions:
PLE: Hamed Hemdan 67’ , Wajdi Nabhan 89’
IRQ: Rebin Sulaka 68’, Aymen Hussein 76’, Akam Hashem 90+4’
Recap: Football. Bloody Hell.
This match followed the script of so many of the 18 encounters before it. Palestine had lost 14 of those previous matches and so many times it was the little things.
Both teams came into the match with a lot of intent and energy buoyed by a stadium that was full of Palestine and Iraqi fans. In the first quarter of the game, Palestine had the better of the half chances including a penalty shout on Wessam Abou Ali at the half hour mark.
It was Iraq whose antiseptic possession would turn lethal. In the 34th minute, Ibrahim Bayesh picked up a ball on the right flank- his movement evaded his mark and a perfect cross found Aymen Hussein who leapt above his club teammate Michel Termanini to open the scoring.
To their credit, Palestine did not hang their heads. They avoided the killer mistake that hampered them in the first game of the window against Jordan. In the second half there was intent as Iraq slowly retreated further into their own half.
Palestine went gung-ho in the second half throwing bodies forward at the Iraqi rearguard. A series of set piece opportunities came and went but the real catalyst for change was Adam Kaied who entered the game at the hour mark. Everytime he touched the ball there was a feeling something positive would happen. Lo and behold it did. The Iraqis simply could not get the ball off of the NAC Breda man. With time ticking away it seemed that this would be another valiant defeat for Palestine. That was especially the feeling when Wessam Abou Ali was stopped point blank by Ahmed Bassil.
The Al-Ahli forward would not be denied though- banging home an equalizer from a corner with less than three minutes to go in normal time. That goal destroyed Iraq who were attempting to hold onto their narrow lead- try as they might the Lions of Mesopotamia could not get a foothold in the game. Palestine were intent on grabbing a winner to keep their hopes of a World Cup playoff spot alive. The entire stadium roared with every foray forward and it was Adam Kaied again who would prove vital- winning a series of corner kicks.
Palestine would again profit off set pieces with Amid Mahajna launching himself at Adam Kaied’s delivery for his first international goal. That strike came in the final minute of a minimum of six added minutes. Play would go on for another minute and a half but there was no way back for Iraq.
When the final whistle blew there was an explosion of joy and relief with the players directing their gratitude towards a crowd that carried them to victory.
Crowd: The Amman International Stadium was just as full for this match as it was on Thursday. Iraqis came in big numbers even though they were being sold tickets outside the stadium at 2.5 times the price. Palestine fans were buoyed by the presence of Wehdat Ultas who created a great atmosphere throughout the match. That said, this was by no means a cauldron and Iraqi fans made plenty of noise.
What I liked: The team went for it in the second and threw caution to the wind. The final statistics tell the full story. Palestine had 56% possession and a whopping 67% in the second half.
The team clearly worked on set pieces scoring on two and cleaning things up in defence after a disastrous performance against Jordan.
What I didn’t like: This team might put some of us in early grave if they continue with their cardiac arresting finishes!
What’s Next: Palestine travel to Kuwait on June 6th in another must win match. Should they win that and should Oman fail to beat Jordan the two teams will meet on the 10th to decide who advances to the 4th Round.
