The Palestinian soccer group will get its first take a look at on the Asian Cup on Sunday, with its preparations having been made tougher by no home soccer and restricted alternatives to play aggressive matches.
It faces three-time champion Iran in its opening sport of the event, on the identical day because the Israel-Hamas battle reaches the 100-day mark.
“There has been very little football activity in Palestine for three months since the start of the war and this impacted us negatively, but we played friendlies abroad and qualifiers,” group captain Musab Battat mentioned Saturday. “We want to put in good performances and get good results for our fans.”
Qatar captain Hassan Al Haydos handed the respect of taking the pre-tournament oath to Battat at Friday’s opening ceremony in Lusail.
“As a captain, saying the pledge was a proud moment for me as a captain of Palestine,” Battat mentioned.
His group misplaced 1-0 towards Uzbekistan and drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia in warmup video games this month. In November it misplaced 1-0 towards Australia and drew 0-0 with Lebanon.
Despite that winless run, Battat spoke with confidence forward of going through Iran.
“Our preparations went well, we are ready and fully aware of the size of the task at hand in this tournament. We are in good form at the moment and raring to go,” he mentioned.
The Palestinian group’s coach Makram Daboub spoke of his need to carry “joy for our people.”
“Iran are one of the best teams in the continent. They have a lot of top players and are a talented group,” he mentioned. “It’s between them, (South) Korea and Japan for the title in my opinion.
“Recently we played very well against Australia, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia, so in one match we fancy our chances, and we can dream of going through to the next round.”
The United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong are additionally in Group C.
Source web site: www.hindustantimes.com
