The Palestinian football community celebrated a major achievement on Monday, following another convincing victory in the Sports Center Stadium in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The 4-0 victory against Philippines was the third win in a row in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.
On June 8 and June 11, Palestine won 1-0 against Mongolia and 5-0 against Yemen, respectively. The precious wins for the Fidaii allowed them to claim a top spot in their Group B with 9 points.
“The Palestine National Football team are top of group B on Matchday 2 of the Asian Cup Qualifiers. A win or draw against Singapore on Monday will see Al-Fidaii punch their ticket to the 2023 Asian Cup.”
Read full match preview by Sammy Baroud. https://t.co/UiVcHvthrD pic.twitter.com/kxvJFRyFDu
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 14, 2022
Palestine made it to the Asian Cup finals twice before, first in 2015 and again in the last season. The latest series of victories means that Palestine will participate in the 2023 Asian Cup.
“For Palestinians, sports has been a form of cultural resistance that allowed them to fight Israeli apartheid and military occupation, and against erasure,” Palestinian journalist and editor of the Palestine Chronicle Ramzy Baroud said.
“From symbols in football games, to chants, to the waving of the flag, Palestinians in Palestine and around the world see sports, especially football, as a form of collective assertion of identity,” Baroud added.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
Well done Palestine.
I think these wonderful representatives of their country and people should be very careful of their knees, ankles and feet. I recall several years ago that ZioIsraeli snipers were taking aim at such body parts of Palestinian athletes so as to ensure that the effrontery of resistance so expressed could be cut off at vital junctures of the human body…and prevent the victims from ever again participating meaningfully in sports endeavors.