SEOUL, SEPT 6 – The ability of Palestine, which is ranked 96th in the world, to hold back the world number 23, South Korea with a goalless draw in the World Cup qualifying match yesterday, is like a victory for them.
After earning a point following a draw in the opening match of Group B for the third round of Asian World Cup qualifiers at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, Palestine Head Coach Makram Daboub said he was very happy with the result, news agencies reported. Yonhap.
“It was a difficult game, but we were able to bring home a good result because we brought all the players we could muster.
I am very happy to bring joy to our fans in Palestine,” Daboub said through an interpreter.
Only a few Palestinian fans were present among the 59,579 spectators in the stadium. The atmosphere may have been daunting for the visiting team playing in front of such a large home crowd, but Daboub said his players had the mental toughness to face the challenge.
In fact, Palestine almost won the match if Wessam Abou Ali managed to score through his counterattack in second half stoppage time.
Palestine goalkeeper Rami Hamada emerged as the man of the match, as he successfully parried a flurry of South Korean attempts in the second half.
He saved several dangerous attempts including a close-range header by striker Oh Se-hun and denied Lee Kang-in’s powerful free-kick from outside the box.
“I am very proud of my teammates, my goalkeeper coach and our people in Palestine. It was a tough match against big teams and superstars. We do our job. We came here to do something positive and we managed to bring home a point. We are proud of this,” he said. – Named
