Palestine national football team
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For current information on this topic, see Palestine national football team results. |
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| Nickname(s) | Al-Fursan (The Knights) | ||
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| Association | Palestinian Football Federation | ||
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||
| Head coach |   Mousa Bezaz |
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| Most caps | Saeb Jendeya (70) | ||
| Top scorer | Ziyad Al-Kord (16) | ||
| Home stadium | Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, Al-Ram | ||
| FIFA code | PLE | ||
| FIFA ranking | 175 | ||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 115 (April 2006) | ||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 191 (April 1999) | ||
| Elo ranking | 151 | ||
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| First international | |||
 Egypt 8–1 Palestine  (Egypt; July 26, 1953) |
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| Biggest win | |||
Palestine 11–0 Guam  (Dhaka, Bangladesh; April 1, 2006) |
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| Biggest defeat | |||
| Egypt 8–1 Palestine (Egypt; July 26, 1953) |
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The Palestine national football team is the national team of the Palestinian Football Federation, representing Palestine.[1]
The current Palestine Football Federation was founded in 1962, but was not recognized by FIFA until 1998, after the creation of the Palestinian Authority.
It reached an all-time high position of 115 in the FIFA ranking system in April 2006 after seven years of progression from 191st in August 1999. Following their recognition by FIFA, the team played no official fixtures in the Palestinian Territories due to security concerns before they played a match on home soil on October 26, 2008 against Jordan in the newly renovated Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium in Al-Ram north of Jerusalem, with the match finishing in a 1-1 draw.[2] In recognition of their efforts the Palestinian Football Federation was awarded FIFA's inaugural Development Award.[3]
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[edit] History
[edit] Beginnings
Football has a long and rich tradition in Palestine. The game was originally introduced during the time of the British Mandate. The Palestine FA was formed in 1928 and joined FIFA in 1929 but at the time the association was made up of Arab clubs, Jewish clubs and clubs representing British policemen or soldiers serving in the region during the British Mandate rule that spanned the period between World War One and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. An Arab club represented the Palestinian FA in an attempt to qualify for the World Cup in 1930 while the qualification matches for the 1934 World Cup were contested by a Palestine team made up exclusively of Jewish and British players.[4] In the following years the sport would fall into disrepair.
[edit] Renaissance
Palestine applied and was admitted into FIFA in 1998. They played their first friendly matches against Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria in July of 1998. Although raw and unexperienced, the team did have a couple of diamonds in the rough in team captain Saeb Jendeya and striker Ziyad Al-Kord. The following year, the team, led by Israeli-Arab coach Azmi Nasser partook in the 1999 Pan-Arab Games in Amman, Jordan. Although they were considered heavy underdogs, they managed to win the bronze medal securing famous scalps of Syria, Qatar, and the UAE while only losing to hosts Jordan.
Palestine's first foray in attempting to qualify for the 2000 Asian Cup and the 2002 FIFA World Cup was expected to include some growing pains. Surprisingly, the team acquitted itself well especially in the latter where they finished second capturing victories against Hong Kong and Malaysia. The team relied on their strong defense anchored by captain Saeb Jendeya and young goalkeeper Ramzi Saleh coupled with a quick counterattacking game that featured the likes of Mohammed Al-Jeish, Ziyad Al-Kord, and Fadi Lafi.
[edit] The Chilean Connection
In 2002, the PFA decided to hire Nicola Shahwan as manager. Shahwan, who was born in Beit Jala grew up in Chile and had vast connections amongst Santiago's Palestinian community. After a training camp was organized, several players were brought into the team, most notably Roberto Bishara, Roberto Kettlun, Edgardo Abdala, Francisco Alam and the Argentine-born Pablo Abdala. These players made their official debut in the 2002 Arab Nations Cup despite a deteriorating political situation in Palestine, the team performed brilliantly, exhibiting a new more open brand football. The team exited in the group stage but managed credible draws against group winners Jordan, hosts Kuwait, and Sudan with their only loss coming against eventual semi-finalist Morocco.
In 2004, also played for the Palestinian national team Hernán Madrid and the Argentine-born Alejandro Naif.
[edit] 2006 World Cup Qualifying
After a disappointing Asian Cup Qualifying campaign, the PFA decided to hire Austrian journeyman coach Alfred Riedl to lead the team to Germany 2006. The Palestinians were drawn in a tough group alongside rising power Uzbekistan, perennial superpower Iraq, and fellow minnows Chinese Taipei. In their first match, Palestine recorded an historic 8-0 win against the Taiwanese, two months later a 1-1 draw against Iraq put Palestine in first place of the group. There was a buzz about the team and genuine hope that qualification could be a possibility. Preparation for the team's third game, away to Uzbekistan, were severely hampered after the Israeli authorities refused travel permits for nearly half the squad. Barely, able to scrape together a starting eleven, Palestine sank to a 3-0 defeat. Hope was kept alive in the fourth game, when Palestine overcame similar obstacles to beat Chinese Taipei 1-0 but their lack of preparation was made evident in the deciding game against Uzbekistan where the team slumped to another 3-0 loss.
[edit] 2006: The Golden Year
2006 proved to be a golden year for Palestinian football despite being drawn in the group of death in Asian Cup Qualifying for the 2007 tournament alongside 2004 finalist China, eventual winners Iraq, and Singapore. Palestine managed to stay alive until the penultimate round, securing a 1-0 win against Singapore and a 2-2 draw against Iraq. The highlight of the year came when the national team was invited to participate in the inaugural Challenge Cup in Bangladesh. The team managed to set the tournament alight by beating Guam 11-0 in their first game followed by a 4-0 thrashing of Cambodia. In their final game, the team exhibited signs of fatigue, a result of many players not having played regular club football due to the suspension of the West Bank Premier League. Nevertheless, the team secured a 1-1 draw against hosts Bangladesh en route to topping the group and securing a quarterfinal matchup against Kyrgyzstan. Against Kyrgyzstan, the Palestinians laid siege to goal and maintained possession well, but could not find the back of the net. Just when it seemed the match would be heading to extra-time Kyrgyzstan popped up with a late goal sending Palestine crashing out of the tournament.
[edit] 2007: Stagnation
After the promising exhibitions in Asian Cup Qualifying and the Challenge Cup it seemed that the team could only continue to improve. In the summer of 2006, Palestine achieved its highest ever FIFA ranking at 115, placing them 16th in the Asian continent. Internal strife, however, highlighted by an international embargo after the 2006 Elections which saw Hamas gain a majority of seats, along with the ensuing power struggle in Gaza, resulted in the neglecting of football, the team remained without a manager for most of 2007 and preparations for World Cup Qualifying were severely lacking. Palestine lost the first leg of a two-legged play-off against Singapore 0-4 and did not play the return leg as a result of Israeli travel restrictions.
[edit] 2008: A New Beginning
In the summer of 2008, PFA elections were held, resulting in a victory for former Head of National Security Jibril Rajoub. Rajoub vowed to improve the quality of Palestinian football and under his tenure, the West Bank Premier League managed to complete a full season of play for the first time in eight years. Rajoub also made it his mission to have Palestine host a match on home soil for the first time since becoming a member of FIFA (Palestine had previously played a home friendly against Jordan in 1997). With the assistance of FIFA's Goal Program, Rajoub was able to secure funds to build a stadium in Al-Ram just north of Jerusalem. On October 28th, 2008 a grand opening featuring many dignitaries from the Palestinian Authority and FIFA President Sepp Blatter gathered at Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium to watch Palestine face-off against border rivals Jordan. The game ended in a 1-1 draw and Ahmad Keskesh's opening goal in the 7th minute sent the 7,000+ crowd into delirium. [5] As a result of this historic undertaking, PFA Chairman Jibril Rajoub, National team Vice-captain Ahmed Keshkesh, and Women's National team captain Honey Thaljeh were invited to FIFA headquarters in Geneva where they received the inaugural FIFA Development Award at a star-studded gala that featured the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Leo Messi, and Fernando Torres alongside UEFA President Michel Platini and football legend Pelé .[6]
The club played its first European friendly on May 6, 2009 when it faced FC Brussels in Brussels.[7]
[edit] Difficulties
The Palestinian Football Federation faces many problems in organising something as mundane as a training session for the entire team because of travel restrictions placed by Israel upon people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the difficulty in obtaining an exit visa from Israel. Palestine FA promised the Jordanian that they would not recruit players from there considering that almost 70% of the Jordanian population have Palestinian ancestry. The other problem is that the Israeli-Arabs don't want to trade in their Israeli passport for a Palestinian which could mean being stateless in Israel. In addition, they have no proper training facilities.[8] As a result, many players in the team are drawn from the Palestinian diaspora, from as far away as Chile and the United States. A major factor for these disparate players is that sport is the only realm in which a Palestinian state is fully recognised.[9]
Recently, Israel's refusal to issue exit visas has resulted in players or in some case the entire team being unable to represent their country. In November 2006, all players based inside Palestine were denied exit visas. The AFC, Asia's governing football body decided to cancel the match since both teams had been eliminated from the competition by virtue of their previous results against China and Iraq. [10] In October 2007, the second leg of a crucial World Cup qualifier between Palestine and Singapore was not played due to Palestine's inability to obtain an exit visa. AFC and FIFA decided not to reschedule the match despite protests from Palestine's FA. Instead Singapore was awarded with a 3-0 win in a walkover match. [11] Israeli Authorities dealt another blow to the National team when in May 2008, the team was not allowed to travel to participate in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, a competition where Palestine was expected to contend for the title and receive a berth at the 2011 Asian Cup.
Some of the athletes have been directly affected by the Arab–Israeli conflict. Tariq al Quto was killed by the Israel Defense Force,[12] and striker Ziyad Al-Kord was banned from travelling and had his house destroyed.[13] During the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict three Palestinian footballers: Ayman Alkurd, Shadi Sbakhe, and Wajeh Moshtahe were among the Palestinian casualties. [14]
A film, Goal Dreams, was made about the team attempting to overcome obstacles in the qualification for the 2006 World Cup, who were also featured on the BBC documentary series Frontline Football.
[edit] Records
[edit] World Cup Record
| Asian Qualification Records | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA |
 1930 to 1998 |
Did not enter | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  2002 |
Did not qualify | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 9 |
 2006 |
Did not qualify | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 11 |
 2010 |
Did not qualify | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Total | 13 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 19 | 24 | |
[edit] Asian Cup Record
| Asian Cup Qualification | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA |
 1956 to  1996 |
Did not enter | - | - | - | - | - | - |
 2000 |
Did not qualify | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
 2004 |
Did not qualify | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
    2007 |
Did not qualify | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
 2011 |
Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total | - | 15 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 28 |
[edit] AFC Challenge Cup Record
| AFC Challenge Cup | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA |
 2006 |
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[edit] WAFF Championship Record
| WAFF Championship | |||||||
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| Year | Round | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA |
 2000 |
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[edit] Coaches
1998–present
| Manager | Tenure | Games Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ricardo Carugati |
1998 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0% |
Ricardo Carugati Azmi Nassar |
1999 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 33.3% |
| Azmi Nassar |
2000 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 25% |
 Mansour Hamid El-Bouri |
2000 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0% |
| Mustafa Abdel-Ghali Yacoub |
2001 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 33.3% |
 Andrzej Wisniewski |
2002 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0% |
 Nicola Hadwa Shahwan |
2002-2004 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 23 | 0% |
 Alfred Riedl |
2004 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 12.5% |
| Ghassan Balawi^ |
2004 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
 Tamas Viczko |
2004 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0% |
| Azmi Nassar^^ |
2005-2007 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 24 | 16 | 45.5% |
| Nelson Dekmak |
2007 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0% |
| Naeem Swerky^ |
June 2008 | |||||||
| Izzat Hamza |
July 2008 - June 2009 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 0% |
| Mousa Bezaz |
July 2009 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0% |
^Denotes Interim role
^^Due to his battle with cancer, Azmi Nassar was only in charge for two games. His assistant coaches Mohammed Al-Sabah and Tomas Viczko split coaching duties during his absences, coaching the team at the 2006 AFC Challenge Cup, the 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers the 2007 WAFF Championship and various friendlies.
[edit] Upcoming Fixtures
| 2009-07-10 19:30 +3 UTC |
Iraq  |
v | Palestine |
Franso Hariri Stadium, Arbil |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-07-18 |
China PR |
v | Palestine |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
[edit] Current Squad
The following players were called up for 2010 AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers
[edit] Recent Call Ups
| Name | DOB | Club | Caps (goals) | Most Recent Call up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||
| Ramzi Saleh | August 8, 1980 | Al-Ahly |
62 (0) | v Qatar, August 9, 2008 | |
| Defenders | |||||
| Saeb Jendeya | May 13, 1975 | Ittihad Al-Shajiya |
70 (1) | v Qatar, August 9, 2008 | |
| Omar Jarun | February 14, 1983 | Flota Świnoujście |
1 (0) | v Singapore, October 8, 2007 | |
| Midfielders | |||||
| Fadi Salim | December 10, 1983 | Markaz Tulkarm |
15 (2) | v Qatar, August 9, 2008 | |
| Imad Zatara | January 1, 1984 |  Syrianska FC |
7 (1) | v China, October 11, 2006 | |
| Mohammed Samara | January 1, 1980 | Petrojet |
1 (0) | v Singapore, October 8, 2007 | |
| Roberto Kettlun | July 25, 1981 |  Brindisi |
20 (3) | v China, October 11, 2006 | |
| Edgardo Abdala | July 1, 1978 | Huachipato |
19 (1) | v Singapore, October 8, 2007 | |
| Tayseer Amer | January 26, 1977 | Ahly Qalqilya |
24 (4) | v Qatar, August 9, 2008 | |
| Strikers | |||||
| Fadi Lafi | March 23, 1979 | Shabab Al-Ordon |
33 (5) | v Qatar, August 9, 2008 | |
[edit] Top Goalscorers
| # | Player | Career | Goals (Caps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ziyad Al-Kord | 1998-2006 | 16 (33) |
| 2. | Fahed Attal (*) | 2005-present | 12 (22) |
| 3. | Mohammed Al-Jeish | 1998-2002 | 5 (18) |
| 4. | Fadi Lafi(*) | 1998-present | 5 (33) |
| 5. | Tayseer Amer(*) | 2002-present | 4 (24) |
| 6. | Ahmed Keshkesh (*) | 2004-present | 4 (25) |
- (*) - still active
[edit] Related Items
[edit] Notes
- ^ While serving only the Palestinian territories, FIFA adopted the Palestinian Football Federation as the National Football Association of "Palestine" to avoid being required to make political judgements while a lasting solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict is yet to be found. For discussion of this vague term, see definitions of Palestine and Palestinian. For a similar situation, see Chinese Taipei.
- ^ Maqbool, Aleem (2008-10-27). "'Palestine' take to field of dreams". BBC News. BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7692735.stm. Retrieved on 2008-10-28.
- ^ "Palestine scoop Development Prize". FIFA.com. FIFA. 2009-01-12. http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/awards/gala/news/newsid=990926.html#palestine+scoop+development+prize. Retrieved on 2009-04-12.
- ^ "PA long wait for a home game". Reuters Soccer Blog. 2008-10-24. http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2008/10/24/a-long-wait-for-a-home-game/. Retrieved on 2009-04-12.
- ^ Maqbool, Aleem (2008-10-27). "'Palestine' take to field of dreams". BBC News. BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7692735.stm. Retrieved on 2008-10-28.
- ^ "Palestine scoop Development Prize". FIFA.com. FIFA. 2009-01-12. http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/awards/gala/news/newsid=990926.html#palestine+scoop+development+prize. Retrieved on 2009-04-12.
- ^ Casert, Raf (2009-05-05). "Palestine coach faces hurdles ahead of game". Yahoo! Sports. http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=AuEk79SIwIlKzCMAHCmWMPUUwLYF?slug=ap-palestineteam&prov=ap&type=lgns. Retrieved on 2009-05-08.
- ^ "Palestine's football pride". BBC News Online. 2004-07-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3834193.stm. Retrieved on 2006-09-28.
- ^ Taji Farouky, Saeed (2006-06-07). "Palestine team's World Cup woes". BBC News Online. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5049878.stm. Retrieved on 2006-09-28.
- ^ "Singapore, Palestine match called off". the-afc.com. 2006-11-15. http://www.afcasiancup.com/en/tournament/mtindex.asp?aid=45961&cid=1336&mt=11815&sec=105.
- ^ "Asia WCQ: Singapore Given Tie After Palestine No-Show". GOAL.com. 2007-10-29. http://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=461833.
- ^ Willacy, Mark (2006-06-30). "Palestinian National Football Team prepares for the next World Cup despite difficulties". ABC News Online. http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1676020.htm. Retrieved on 2006-09-28.
- ^ "Film documents hardships facing Palestinian football team". 2004-11-04. http://www.jerusalemites.org/jerusalem/cultural_dimensions/77.htm. Retrieved on 2006-09-28.
- ^ http://en.rian.ru/world/20090114/119490704.html
[edit] External links
- Palestine on National-Football-Teams.com
- Palestine at FIFA.com
- Palestine on Youtube.com
- Palestine's Match Archive on kooora.com
- RSSSF Archive of National Team Results from 1953 to 2004
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