Tears Of Joy As Palestine Make History

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Fawad Hussain | The Peninsula

Doha: Tearful Palestinian players fell on their knees as they completed a 3-0 rout of Hong Kong in front of their emotional fans at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium yesterday.

It was a mission accomplished for Makram Daboub's side in Qatar that was seeking their best-ever show at the AFC Asian Cup“to give joy to their people back home” suffering from the brutal Israeli aggression in Gaza.

The dominant victory, which sealed Palestine's maiden berth in the Round of 16, is also their first-ever win in the continental showpiece after drawing three and losing five matches.

"Thank you to the fans, who are coming to support Palestine and the national team of Palestine. Thank you from our heart," captain Musab Al Battat, who was declared man of the match, said in his post match comments.

"We will do our best to put a smile for the people."

Palestine progressed to the knockout stage as third-placed team with four points from Group C as United Arab Emirates finished ahead of them on goal difference despite their 2-1 defeat to toppers Iran.

Daboub's men showed remarkable comeback after their opening 4-1 loss to Iran as they held the UAE in 1-1 thriller to secure a coveted point, before their outstanding display against Hong Kong.

It was all about Palestine yesterday, who were in complete control as Jorn Andersen-coached Hong Kong struggled throughout the match, with a missed penalty in injury-time rounding up their disappointment.

“These players are our heroes. They achieved the goal for which we came here as we have made history by qualifying for the last 16 for the first time,” Palestine coach Daboub told reporters.

Oday Dabbagh was Palestine's star as the forward scored a goal each in both halves with Zeid Qunbar being the other scorer in the convincing victory, which will boost their confidence ahead of the last 16 stage.

Palestine enjoyed a lion's share of ball possession across the two halves, making around 20 attempts with seven shots on target to Hong Kong's one.

Dabbagh was a constant threat from the beginning as he sent out an early warning hitting the side netting with an attempt from a difficult angle from the right side.

Palestine scored opener in the 12th following an attack from the right as Al Battat's fine cross was clinically executed by Dabbagh, who rose from centre of the box to head the ball that bounced into the top of right corner.

Dabbagh had a couple of more attempts before Hong Kong suffered an injury setback when Vas Nunez was stretchered off and was replaced with Li Ngai Hoi in 28th minute.

Hong Kong could have scored an equaliser three minutes later after a superb Michael Udebuluzor play set up Philip Chan Siu Kwan, who spurned the golden opportunity by completely missing the target from a good position.

Dabbagh and Tamer Seyam made further efforts for their second goal but had to content with the one-goal lead at half-time.

Returning with the same attacking strategy, Palestine made it 2-0 in identical fashion three minutes after the break as Al Battat this time picked up Qunbar with a cross from the right and the forward's flawless header sailed past hapless goalkeeper Tse Ka Wing.

Looking to improve their scoring rate, Palestine continued their hunt for more goals and Dabbagh at the one-hour mark made no mistake to score his second goal of the match when the ball bounced back to him after Seyam's strike from the edge of the box hit the bar.

Hong Kong got a chance to pull one back when referee Shaun Evans awarded them a penalty following a VAR review for a handball by Battat.

But Everton Camargo's strike from the spot hit the bar as Hong Kong got eliminated without earning an Asian Cup win. They are now without a victory in 13 overall matches (3 draw, 10 defeats) in the tournament.

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