Facing a historic event such as playing in the round of 16 of the Asian Cup for the first time, Palestine came down from the cloud and lost 2-1 against the host, Qatar, who reached the quarterfinals of the competition for the third time in their history. history.
Palestine did not give more of itself in a tournament full of emotions for players who have played four matches under the shadow of the tragedy they are experiencing due to the conflict with Israel. They showed their face in all of them and, after signing their first victory in history in the Asian Cup against Hong Kong (0-3) just a few days ago, they reached an unprecedented round for the team led by Makram Daboub.
The round of 16 was already a resounding success for Palestine, who fought tooth and nail to get a ticket to the quarterfinals. She didn’t succeed, but she put her rival on the ropes, who had to overcome Oday Dabbagh’s goal in the 37th minute.
The Charleroi player created a play on the balcony of the area that culminated with an accurate shot against one of the goal posts defended by Meshaal Barsham, who could not prevent the first Palestinian goal.
However, Qatar reacted soon, in added time of the first half, and equalized the match thanks to Hasan Al-Haydos, who once again took advantage of a rehearsed corner play. He already took advantage of a set piece action against China and repeated it against Palestine. Akram Afif put the ball level with the grass right at the penalty spot and Al-Haydos appeared there to finish off the tying goal first.
Palestine cringed with Qatar’s success and at the beginning of the second half they received the second, the work of Akram Afif from the penalty spot. Afterwards, Daboub’s men, for almost forty minutes, tried unsuccessfully to equalize and were defeated with honor and glory on the edge of the quarterfinals.
