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Palestine national football team

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Palestine
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)الفدائي (The Redeemers)
الفرسان (The Knights)
أسود كنعان (Lions of Canaan)
AssociationPalestinian Football Association
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Sub-confederationWAFF (West Asia)
Head coachJamal Mahmoud
CaptainRamzi Saleh
Most capsRamzi Saleh (102)
Top scorerFahed Attal, Ashraf Nu'man (14)
Home stadiumFaisal Al-Husseini International Stadium
FIFA codePLE
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current85 Increase 9 (17 July 2014)
Highest85 (17 July 2014)
Lowest191 (April 1999)
First international
 Egypt 8–1 Palestine All-Palestine Protectorate
(Alexandria, Egypt; 26 July 1953)
Biggest win
State of Palestine Palestine 11–0 Guam 
(Dhaka, Bangladesh; 1 April 2006)
Biggest defeat
 Iran 7–0 Palestine State of Palestine
(Tehran, Iran; 5 October 2011)
Asian Cup
Appearances1 (first in 2015)

The Palestine national football team (Arabic: منتخب فلسطين لكرة القدم) is the national football team of the State of Palestine and represents the country in international football.[1]

A football federation in Mandatory Palestine was founded in 1928. However, a team for a future Arab state to be called Palestine was first recognized by FIFA in 1998, after the creation of the Palestinian National Authority. Palestine has yet to qualify for the World Cup. They first qualified for the Asian Cup in May 2014, after beating the Philippines 1-0 in the AFC Challenge Cup final.

The team reached an all-time high position of 94th in the FIFA ranking in June 2014 after winning the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. The previous high the team reached on FIFA ranking was in April 2006 when they were ranked at 115th place. Following their recognition by FIFA, the team played no official fixtures in the Palestinian territories due to security concerns until a match on 26 October 2008 against Jordan in the newly renovated Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium in Al-Ram north of Jerusalem, which finished in a 1–1 draw.[2] In recognition of their efforts the Palestinian Football Federation was awarded FIFA's inaugural Development Award.[3]

History

The game was originally introduced during the time of the British Mandate. Palestine has one of the oldest histories of organized football in the Middle East with evidence of the game being played at an organized level amongst Palestinians youths since at least the early 1920s.[4] Some notable clubs during the early years of Palestinian football were Shabab Al Arab of Haifa, the Orthodox Club of Jerusalem, and Islami Yaffa. During these years, Palestinian stars, such as Jabra Al-Zarqa, George Mardeni, and Majed Assad represented an excellence that was second to none. In fact, Jabra Al-Zarqa received an offer to play for Arsenal FC while playing in the British Army's Haifa League in 1945.[4]

The Eretz Israel Football Association was formed in 1928[5][6] and joined FIFA in 1929. It is associated with the Israeli Football Association.[7][8] At the time the association was made up of Arab clubs, Jewish clubs and clubs representing British policemen and soldiers serving in the region during the British Mandate rule that spanned the period between World War One and the independence of the state of Israel in 1948. The qualification matches for the 1934 and 1938 World Cups were contested by a Mandatory Palestine national football team made up exclusively of Jewish players.[9]

Palestine applied to, and was admitted into FIFA in 1998. They played their first friendly matches against Lebanon, Jordan and Syria in July 1998. The following year, the team, led by Israeli-Arab coach Azmi Nasser took part in the 1999 Pan Arab Games, in which they won the bronze medal after beating Syria, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, while only losing to hosts Jordan.

Palestine's first attempt to qualify for the 2000 AFC Asian Cup and the 2002 FIFA World Cup were unsuccessful, but saw victories against Hong Kong and Malaysia.

In 2002, the PFA hired Nicola Hadwa Shahwan as manager. Shahwan, who was born in Beit Jala, grew up in Chile and had many connections among Santiago's Palestinian community, whence he brought Roberto Bishara, Roberto Kettlun, Edgardo Abdala, Francisco Atura and the Argentine-born Pablo Abdala into the squad. These players made their debuts in the 2002 Arab Nations Cup. The team exited in the group stage but managed draws against group winners Jordan, hosts Kuwait, and Sudan, with their only loss coming against eventual semi-finalists Morocco.

In 2004, two more Arab Latin Americans joined the Palestinian national team Hernán Madrid and the Argentine-born Alejandro Naif.

After an unsuccessful Asian Cup qualifying campaign, the PFA hired Austrian coach Alfred Riedl to lead the team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifications. Palestine were drawn in a group alongside Uzbekistan, Iraq and 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 in the group. Preparation for the team's third game, away to Uzbekistan, were hampered after the Israeli authorities refused travel permits for nearly half the squad. Barely able to put together a full team, Palestine sank to a 3–0 defeat, before losing both of their remaining games.

Palestine were drawn in a group in Asian Cup qualifying for the 2007 tournament alongside 2004 finalists China, eventual winners Iraq, and Singapore. Palestine still had a chance of qualifying until the penultimate round, after a 1–0 win against Singapore and a 2–2 draw against Iraq. Palestine was invited to participate in the inaugural Challenge Cup in Bangladesh, where they beat Guam 11–0, Cambodia 4–0 and drew with Bangladesh to top their group and reach the quarterfinal, where they were beaten 1–0 by Kyrgyzstan. In the summer of 2006, Palestine achieved its highest ever FIFA ranking at 115, placing them 16th in the Asian continent. 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 could not play the return leg as a result of Israeli travel restrictions.

In 2008, with the assistance of FIFA's Goal program, Jibril Rajoub, head of the PFA had the Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium built, and on 26 October 2008 Palestine held a match on home soil for the first time since becoming a member of FIFA, a 1–1 draw with Jordan in front of a crowd in excess of 7,000.[2] Palestine received the inaugural FIFA Development Award in recognition of the achievement.[3]

Two and a half years later, in March 2011, Palestine played its first ever competitive home game. The game, at the Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, was the second leg of a qualifier for the 2012 Olympic Games, against Thailand. Thailand had won the first leg 1–0 in Bangkok; Palestine won the second 1–0 with a goal by Abdelhamid Abuhabib in the 43rd minute. The draw on aggregate led to a penalty shootout, where Palestine lost by 5–6.[10] However, as Thailand was ordered to forfeit the first match because of fielding an ineligible player,[11] Palestine replaced Thailand to play Bahrain next. In the next round against Bahrain, although Palestine won the first leg at Bahrain National Stadium by 1–0,[12] they lost the return leg by 1–2[13] and eliminated by away goals rule.[14]

The team beat Afghanistan 3–1 on aggregate (2–0 away, 1–1 home) in the first round of AFC qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. They faced Thailand in the second round, with an away match on 23 July 2011 in Buriram, and a home match on 28 July at Al-Ram. Palestine lost the away leg 1–0, with back-up goalkeeper Mohammed Shbair saving a penalty in the dying moments of the match to keep the tie alive. Palestine took a 1–0 lead in the 6th minute of the return leg through a Murad Alyan goal but conceded 10 minutes before halftime, meaning they would have to win by two clear goals in order to advance. Palestine took a 2–1 lead late in the second half but had a man sent off and conceded a goal whilst desperately searching for a winner. They were eliminated from AFC qualification on an aggregate score of 2–3, if the Asian Football Confederation elects to keep the same qualifying format for the 2018 FIFA World Cup they will be ranked 21st and receive a 1st round bye.

The PFA elected not to renew Moussa Bezaz's contract after the team failed to advance to the Third Round of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Former Al-Wehdat player and manager Jamal Mahmoud was announced as the national team manager in November 2011 after two disastrous friendlies without a permanent manager saw the team lose 4–1 and 7–0 to Indonesia and Iran, respectively. His first official match was a friendly against Bahrain in Manama which Palestine won 1–0 courtesy of Ali El-Khatib's first international goal. Palestine lost its first game at the 2011 Pan Arab Games to Jordan but recovered well in their following group games. Earning a well-deserved 1–1 draw and a 2–0 win over 2012 African Cup of Nations finalists Libya and Sudan to advance to the semifinals of the competition. The team eventually exited the competition against eventual champions Bahrain under dubious circumstances when the Bahrainis were awarded a phantom goal in the second half to make the score 3–1.

Mahmoud led the team three months later at the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup. In the run up to the competition, Palestine made history by playing and defeating its first UEFA opponent, Azerbaijan, 2–0. Preparation for the competition was less than ideal with Abdelatif Bahdari, Roberto Bishara, Omar Jarun, Majed Abusidu, Ali El-Khatib, and Imad Zatara unavailable due to club commitments and having Raed Fares, Haitham Theeb, Ismail Amour, Mohammed Al-Masri, Rafit Eyad and Murad Alyan out with injury. Palestine were further denied the services of many players based in Lebanon due to visa issues. Despite these hardships Palestine finished group play at the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup without conceding a goal after 2–0 wins over Nepal and Maldives along with a 0–0 draw against Turkmenistan. Their hopes of 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification were ended by holders North Korea in the semifinals.

Palestine won their first West Asian Football Federation Championship match in 2012, defeating Lebanon 1–0 in Kuwait City. In 2013, They secured a second straight AFC Challenge Cup berth, qualifying for the 2014 edition by topping Group D with 7 points, ahead of Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The team ended up winning the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup without conceding a goal and drawing just one out of five games. The win brought the Palestine team their first major trophy and assured them of participation in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, also their first ever. They were placed in Group D alongside Japan, Jordan and Iraq.

Home matches in Palestine

  Win   Draw   Loss

Date Venue Opponent Result Competition Palestine scorers
26 October 2008 Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, Jerusalem  Jordan 1–1 Friendly Ahmed Keshkesh
3 July 2011 Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, Jerusalem  Afghanistan 1–1 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying Houssam Wadi
28 July 2011 Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, Jerusalem  Thailand 2–2 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying Murad Alyan
22 May 2012 Al-Hussein Stadium, Hebron  Indonesia 2–1 2012 Palestine International Cup1 Hussam Abu Saleh, Fahed Attal
24 May 2012 Dora International Stadium, Hebron  Tunisia 0–0 (4–3p) 2012 Palestine International Cup1
  • 1 Non FIFA 'A' international match

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

The Palestinian Football Federation faces problems in training and playing due to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

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, many players in the team are drawn from the Palestinian diaspora, from as far away as Chile and the United States.[15] Recently, Israel's refusal to issue exit visas has resulted in players, or in some case the entire team, being unable to represent the country. In November 2006 (the last match of 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification group stage is scheduled), all players based inside the West Bank and Gaza Strip were denied exit visas. The AFC cancelled the match since both teams had been eliminated from the competition by virtue of their previous results against China and Iraq.[16] 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.

In October 2007, the second leg of a crucial 2010 World Cup qualifier between Palestine and Singapore was not played due to Palestine's inability to obtain exit visas. The AFC and FIFA decided not to reschedule the match despite protests from the PFA, and Singapore was awarded a 3–0 win in a walkover match.[17] In May 2008, the team was not allowed to travel to the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup. After a 2011 World Cup qualifier against Thailand, two starters, Mohammed Samara and Majed Abusidu, were refused entry to the West Bank and therefore could not travel back with the team from Thailand.[18]

Striker Ziyad Al-Kord was banned from traveling and had his house destroyed.[19] Tariq al Quto was killed by the Israel Defense Forces,[20] and during the Operation Cast Lead three Palestinian footballers, Ayman Alkurd, Shadi Sbakhe and Wajeh Moshtahe, were among the Palestinian casualties.[21]

Mahmoud Sarsak was administratively detained by Israel in July 2009 for being a member of Islamic Jihad; following a hunger strike and international pressure on his behalf from FIFA President Sepp Blatter, he was released in July 2012.[22] In 2012, Olympic Team goalkeeper Omar Abu Ruways was arrested by Israel for being a member of a terrorist cell.[23]

Samah Fares Muhamed Marava was arrested in April after returning with his team from training in Qatar. The Shin Bet accused Marava of exploiting his status as a Palestinian football player to act as a courier for Hamas. [24] According to Marava, before he left for Qatar, a senior Hamas operative in Kalkilya, asked him to meet an operative from Hamas' military wing in Qatar. During the meeting, Marava received money, a cellphone and written messages which he brough back to Hamas operatives in Kalkilya. [25]

Palestinian facilities, such as Palestine Stadium, have been damaged in military conflicts.[26]

The team's former goalkeeper Abu Rwayyis was arrested in connection with an attack on IDF soldiers in April 2012. He also revealed additional plans for attacks on IDF soldiers. [27]

Competition records

WAFF Championship

WAFF Championship Finals
Year Round Pld W D L GS GA
Jordan 2000 Group Stage 3 0 1 2 3 5
Syria 2002 Group Stage 2 0 0 2 1 4
Iran 2004 Group Stage 2 0 1 1 2 3
Jordan 2007 Group Stage 2 0 0 2 0 3
Iran 2008 Group Stage 2 0 0 2 0 4
Jordan 2010 Group Stage 2 0 0 2 1 6
Kuwait 2012 Group Stage 3 1 0 2 3 4
Qatar 2014 Group Stage 2 0 1 1 0 1
Total Best: Group Stage 18 1 3 14 10 30

Players

Current squad

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Toufic Ali (1990-11-08)8 November 1990 (aged 23) 7 0 State of Palestine Taraji Wadi Al-Nes
1GK Ramzi Saleh (c) (1980-08-08)8 August 1980 (aged 33) 102 0 Egypt Misr El-Makasa
1GK Ghanem Mahajneh (1991-04-20)20 April 1991 (aged 23) 0 0 State of Palestine Taraji Wadi Al-Nes
2DF Raed Fares (1982-12-06)6 December 1982 (aged 31) 7 0 State of Palestine Hilal Al-Quds
2DF Hussam Abu Saleh (1983-02-14)14 February 1983 (aged 31) 30 3 State of Palestine Hilal Al-Quds
2DF Omar Jarun (1983-12-10)10 December 1983 (aged 30) 16 0 Canada Ottawa Fury
2DF Mousa Abu Jazar (1987-08-28)28 August 1987 (aged 26) 22 1 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Khaleel
2DF Khaled Mahdi (1987-02-01)1 February 1987 (aged 27) 8 0 State of Palestine Markaz Shabab Al-Am'ari
2DF Abdelatif Bahdari (1984-02-20)20 February 1984 (aged 30) 25 0 Iraq Zakho
2DF Haytham Theeb (1986-12-03)3 December 1986 (aged 27) 7 0 State of Palestine Hilal Al-Quds
2DF Mus'ab Al-Batat 4 0 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Dhahiriya
3MF Hilal Musa (1990-05-31)31 May 1990 (aged 23) 5 0 State of Palestine Khader FC
3MF Tamer Seyam 0 0 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Khaleel
3MF Imad Zatara (1984-10-01)1 October 1984 (aged 29) 17 3 Sweden Åtvidabergs FF
3MF Ahmed Maher (1991-07-22)22 July 1991 (aged 22) 0 0 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Dhahiriya
3MF Abdelhamid Abuhabib (1989-06-08)8 June 1989 (aged 24) 17 6 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Khaleel
3MF Khader Yousef (1984-10-06)6 October 1984 (aged 29) 39 0 State of Palestine Taraji Wadi Al-Nes
3MF Murad Ismail Said (1982-12-15)15 December 1982 (aged 31) 20 0 Jordan Al-Wehdat
3MF Abdullah Jaber 0 0 State of Palestine Hilal Al-Quds
4FW Rami Musallmeh 9 2 State of Palestine Khader FC
4FW Ashraf Nu'man (1986-07-29)29 July 1986 (aged 27) 35 14 State of Palestine Taraji Wadi Al-Nes

Past squads

AFC Challenge Cup squads

Top goalscorers

As of 31 May 2014

# Name Career Goals Caps
1
Ashraf Nu'man
2009– 14 35
=
Fahed Attal
2005– 14 37
3
Ziyad Al-Kord
1998–2006 10 30
4
Murad Alyan
2011– 7 9
4
Ismail Al-Amour
2005– 7 39
6
Abdelhamid Abuhabib
2011– 6 17
7
Mohammed Al-Jeish
1998–2002 5 18
7
Ahmed Keshkesh
2004– 5 34
7
Fadi Lafi
1998– 5 32
10
Tayseer Amer
2002–2008 4 24

See also

References

  1. ^ While serving only the Palestinian territories, FIFA adopted the Palestinian Football Association 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 the use of this term, see definitions of Palestine. For a similar situation, see Chinese Taipei.
  2. ^ a b Maqbool, Aleem (27 October 2008). "'Palestine' take to field of dreams". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Palestine scoop Development Prize". FIFA.com. FIFA. 12 January 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  4. ^ a b "The Rebirth of Palestinian Soccer". Boxscore News. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  5. ^ The early development of Hebrew football in Eretz Israel, 1910–1928
  6. ^ HISTORY AND ACHIEVEMENTS http://www.footballtop.com/countries/israel
  7. ^ Association Information on FIFA
  8. ^ ASSOCIATION INFO on UEFA
  9. ^ "British Mandate of Palestine Official Games 1934-1948". 24 October 2008.
  10. ^ "Palestinian footballers in bittersweet Olympic match", BBC, 9 March 2011
  11. ^ "Palestine to replace Thailand in Olympic Qualifiers second round". the-afc.com. 4 May 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
  12. ^ FIFA OLYMPIC FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT 2012 MATCH SUMMARY
  13. ^ FIFA OLYMPIC FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT 2012 MATCH SUMMARY
  14. ^ "Palestine 1–2 Bahrain (2–2 agg; Bahrain win on away goals)". Asian Football Confederation. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  15. ^ Taji Farouky, Saeed (7 June 2006). "Palestine team's World Cup woes". BBC News Online. Retrieved 28 September 2006.
  16. ^ "Singapore, Palestine match called off". the-afc.com. 15 November 2006.
  17. ^ "Asia WCQ: Singapore Given Tie After Palestine No-Show". GOAL.com. 29 October 2007.
  18. ^ Wahl, Grant, "Welcome to the World", Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Online, 8 August 2011, pp. 36-40.
  19. ^ "Film documents hardships facing Palestinian football team". 4 November 2004. Retrieved 28 September 2006.
  20. ^ Willacy, Mark (30 June 2006). "Palestinian National Football Team prepares for the next World Cup despite difficulties". ABC News (Australia) Online. Retrieved 28 September 2006.
  21. ^ "Three Palestinian soccer players killed in Gaza violence | Top Russian news and analysis online | 'RIA Novosti' newswire". En.rian.ru. 14 January 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  22. ^ Israel to release Mahmoud Sarsak (18 June 2012). Associated Press.
  23. ^ "'Red Crescent workers behind shooting attack' } Jerusalem Post } 'Jerusalem Post". jpost.com. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  24. ^ "Shin Bet busts Palestinian footballer for meeting with Hamas terrorist in Qatar &#124". 11 June 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  25. ^ "Shin Bet busts Palestinian footballer for meeting with Hamas terrorist in Qatar &#124". 11 June 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  26. ^ "'FIFA to fund Gaza soccer field repair' } ynetnews } 'Ynetnews". ynetnews.com. 4 November 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  27. ^ "&#124". 11 June 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.

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