Palestine Starting XI: Rami Hamadi, Musab Al-Battat, Mohammed Saleh, Michel Termanini, Camilo Saldaña, Amid Mahajna, Odai Kharoub, Mahmoud Abu Warda, Tamer Seyam, Zaid Qunbar, Oday Dabbagh
Substitutions: Islam Batran <-> Tamer Seyam 57’ // Mohammed Rashid <-> Odai Kharoub 75’ // Zeid Qunbar <-> Shehab Qunbar 82’
Cards: Tamer Seyam 14’ Mohammed Saleh 48’ Amid Mahajna 85’
Goals: Day Dabbagh 37’
Recap: A mostly empty stadium greeted Palestine and Qatar. The local fans were late arriving to their Bayt even when the place filled up there was an eery silence with only the ultras- seated dead centre where the cameras could catch them. It was an uneventful first quarter of an hour until Tamer Seyam picked up a yellow card for protesting a poor decision from the referee. For whatever reason that lit a fire in the belly of Palestine who forayed forward. A pair for corners signalled their intent the latter flashed across the face of goal thanks to a clever flick on from Mohammed Saleh.
Halfway through the first half, Oday Dabbagh sent through by Rami Hamadi defender panicked and Dabbagh trotted past the defender but shot over. There were shouts for a VAR review as Bersham wiped him out following his shot. That no-call would be a source of contention later in the game.
Palestine won another corner in the 25th minute courtesy of a blistering counter that ended with Mahmoud Abu Warda stinging the palms of the Qatari goalkeeper. The ensuing corner did find Dabbagh in the far top corner of the box but he launched his shot high. That was a harbinger of things to come for Al-Fida’i.
Palestine were growing into Free kick after a foul on Kharoub the dispatch by Al-Battat was poor but Palestine maintained posession and a diagonal was sent to Amid Mahajna who suffered a nasty clash of heads with Qatar’s Bassam Al-Rawi. The Umm El-Fahm native needed a bandage and shirt change before being allowed back into the field of play.
In the 37th minute the crowd was sent into sheer pandemonium. Oday Dabbagh’s constant pressing paid off as he snuck in behind Bassam Al-Rawi stole the ball and slotted home into the far corner.
Palestine was managing the game and seemed to be set to take a 1-0 lead into halftime. A late corner kick for Qatar offered them salvation. A grass cutter evaded both centrebacks and allowed Hassan Al-Haydos to ghost in and fire at goal- the shot took a slight deflection off a sliding Musab Al-Battat and into Rami Hamadi’s net.
Things would go from bad to worse for Palestine in the second half. Mohammed Saleh went in for a rash slide tackle with Al-Moez Ali through on goal. Contact was made only after Al-Moez Ali fired his shot. VAR was not consulted and it was a very similar scenario to the no-call on Oday Dabbagh in the first half.
With Palestine a goal down, things would go from bad to worse as Tamer Seyam suffered a knock and was forced off with injury in the 57th minute. The game seemed to petering out but Palestine found some energy to take control of the game. Oday Dabbagh had a headed effort in the 63rd minute.
The final fifteen minutes featured more chances but none were really incisive. Mohammed Saleh connected with a corner that was won following good work by Mahmoud Abu Warda. Another corner came two minutes later.
In the 81st minute Mohammed Rashid’s free kick caused panic in the box. A teasing cross two minutes from time evaded Shehab Qunbar. In extra time, Islam Batran shimmied away from Qatar’s defenders and found himself at the top of the box only for his effort to go way over the bar.
It was another case of being very close but not quite achieving the desired target. Palestine had battled hard throughout the tournament but this was a bridge too far with several players carrying knocks and Amid Mahajna and Oday Dabbagh finishing the game with bandages on their head.
Statistical History: Palestine is the first team to have a lead on Qatar at an Asian Cup finals since 2015. The only other team to score on them in that period was Japan in the final of the 2019 edition. It will be a small consolation prize but this game was decided on the smallest of details. Qatar’s resources and ineptitude on the part of the Palestinian Football Association was the difference in the game.
What I liked: This team fought. I cannot ask anything more of the team and the manager they excelled in extremely difficult circumstances. The result is painful because Palestine supporters will have tasted victory before having it pulled away in the cruelest of circumstances.
What I didn’t like: The refereeing in this game and the tournament as a whole leaves a lot to be desired. That penalty call was correct but it begs the question as to why no penalty was given for Bersham clattering into Dabbagh in the first half.
Depth an Issue: Makram Daboub tried to protect his players when asked about holding off on substitutions but it is obvious that he does not trust the guys on the bench to impact the game. I would have liked to see the team be a little braver with the changes. If there is one criticism I have of Dabboub is that he does not really use subs to impact games and that is a problem in the era of five substitutions per game.
Reinforcements: It is now official-ish. Makram Daboub confirmed that Wessam Abou Ali will join the national team pending a FIFA nationality switch. The striker has already acquired a Palestinian passport in order to facilitate his move to Al-Ahly.
What’s Next: Palestine face Bangladesh twice in a World Cup qualifying double header in the March FIFA window.
