Palestine Starting XI (4-3-3): Rami Hamadi, Musab Al-Battat (C), Yaser Hamed Mayor, Mohammed Saleh, Mohammed Khalil (Samer Jondi); Mohammed Rashid, Mohammed Yamin (Odai Kharoub), Mahmoud Abu Warda; Tamer Seyam (Badr Moussa), Oday Dabbagh (Nicolas Zedan), Mahmoud Wadi (Saleh Chihadeh)
Goals: Oday Dabbagh 14′, Mohammed Rashid 45+2′, Mohammed Yamin 47′, Saleh Chihadeh 58′ 65′
Substitutions: Samer Jondi <-> Mohammed Khalil 9′ // Saleh Chihadeh <-> Mahmoud Wadi 55′ // Odai Kharoub <-> Mohammed Yamin 55′ // Nicolas Zedan <-> Oday Dabbagh 67′ // Badr Moussa <-> Tamer Seyam 67′
Recap: Palestine are on the cusp of qualifying for their third straight AFC Asian Cup Finals following a 5-0 drubbing of Yemen in their penultimate Asian Cup qualification match. Following a tough encounter against the hosts on Wednesday there were worries amongst some of the fans that Palestine could be drawn into a war of attrition on a wet and worn out synthetic pitch.
Al-Fida’i went about putting those fears to bed with Oday Dabbagh and Mahmoud Wadi coming close to scoring in the opening 10 minutes. There was a deliberate targeting of Yemen’s left flank in the opening stanza which Palestine exploited over and over. The opening goal would come in the 14th minute after Abu Warda- playing as an advanced midfielder- sent in a ball from the left flank that Wadi connected with. The Pyramids FC striker smashed his attempt against the crossbar but the deflection fell to Oday Dabbagh who scored his 10th international goal.
The opener also marked history as Oday Dabbagh became the only player in Palestine national team history to score in five straight matches.
Palestine would continue to create danger in the first half but with Yemen defending resolutely and threatening on the break a second goal had to wait until the end of the first half.
A foul on the edge of the box provided Rashid the stage to score another worldie for Palestine. The thunderous delivery smashed the roof of the net leaving Al-Harshi no chance of keeping the score 1-0.
In the second half, Palestine continued where they left off. Mohammed Yamin scored the third off a clever assist from Samer Jondi.
The only thing that didn’t go Palestine’s way was seeing Mahmoud Wadi getting forced off with an injury to his ankle. The big target man was unfortunate not to open his account with Palestine today but his physical presence created space for Seyam and Dabbagh. His replacement, Saleh Chihahdeh, would profit from the tiring Yemeni defence as he notched home a fourth goal off and Oday Dabbagh layoff.
Seven minutes later, the former FC Thun forward made it 5-0 following Musab Al-Battat’s bamboozling run past half of Yemen’s defence.
The sting went out of the game after the 70th minute but Palestine maintained their focus for the most part- defending resolutely and limiting their opponent to zero shots on goal for the second straight game.
What I liked: The doubters will question the quality of the opposition, but Yemen are not a bad side by Asian standards. They showed an ability to cause problems in the opening match vs Philippines and were closer to nicking a win than the Azkals were. A 5-0 win on an atrocious pitch, in wet conditions, away from home is something that should be celebrated.
Palestine’s win today is the largest margin of victory in Round Three of Asian Cup qualification. Four different players found the net today in a complete performance that should help win over the doubters.
What I didn’t like: If I had to nitpick there were some times where we gave the ball too cheaply in the middle of the park and that resulted in dangerous counterattacks. The state of the pitch is an absolute joke and it is causing injury after injury. The fact that the AFC greenlit this stadium to be one of six designated host stadia is something that I will never understand.
Man of the Match: Tough to pick a single performance. Saleh Chihadeh had two goals. Oday Dabbagh had a goal and an assist. That said, I think the star of the game was Mohammed Rashid who did a good job orchestrating traffic in the middle of the pitch helping usher Yemen’s attackers into areas were they would be less threatening. His goal changed the complexion of the game. Four years ago it was difficult to imagine replacing Mohammed Darweesh in the event of injury but Rashid has grown with every game since making his senior team debut in 2018.
Elsewhere in Group B: Philippines’s Patrick Reichelt saw his penalty kick saved in the 77th minute. That event seemed to condemn Philippines to defeat but VfL Bochum’s Geritt Holtman popped up in the 94th minute to rescue the Azkals on his debut. The result means Palestine needs at least a point on Tuesday to top Group B.
What’s Next: Palestine face Philippines on Tuesday June 14th in their final 2023 Asian Cup Qualifier. Kick off is set for 7:30 AM Jerusalem time.
