The Warriors of Palestine defeat Iraq in epic fashion, World Cup hopes still alive
Palestine registered a historic victory over Iraq on Tuesday night in Amman to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
The story of Al-Fida’i’s campaign thus far has been one of frustration, bad luck, and missed chances. Palestine’s players and supporters kept insisting they were better than the three point haul that had them propping up the rest of the teams in Group B.
There was some truth to that. How else can one explain two massive draws against behemoths South Korea and a paltry point registered against Kuwait in the other five games?
Following another loss against rivals Jordan on Thursday night the stage was beginning to look a little too big for Palestine.
Jordanian superstar Musa Al-Tamari summed up perfectly in the aftermath of his team’s 3-1 victory: “Palestine are a good team but the games they have lost are a result of a lack of concentration and self inflicted mistakes.”
That certainly was the case against Jordan last week. Palestine were down 2-0 after 11 minutes courtesy of two set piece goals and gifted a third goal to effectively settle the encounter at the stroke of half time.
Palestine knew that only a win would do on Tuesday night. Palestine Football Association media labelled the remaining encounters as “Three Finals.”
There was significant drama coming into the match with the Iraq Football Association launching a formal complaint to FIFA and the AFC after Palestine chose Amman as a neutral location. A bitter rivalry between Jordan and Iraq has taken hold following the latter’s controversial 3-2 victory at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.
Iraq feared that Jordanian fans would show up en masse to support Palestine to boost Jordan’s chances of snatching one of the direct qualification spots at Iraq’s expense. To counter this, Iraq’s Prime Minister ordered the Iraqi embassy in Amman to purchase all available tickets and distribute them to the Iraqi community in Amman.
This had the desired effect with Iraqi fans making up roughly 40% of the supporters in attendance. The attention paid to this game was arguably greater than Jordan vs. Palestine five days ago. There was more media at the pregame press conference and a healthy attendance of 7,305.
Iraq entered the game having dropped a massive two points against Kuwait at home in front of 60,000 supporters in Basra. Iraq was able to salvage a draw as a result of two injury time goals and the result meant that Iraq’s two point lead over Jordan evaporated.
Al-Nashama’s 1-1 draw with South Korea earlier in the day meant that Iraq needed to win to move back into sole possession of second place and an automatic World Cup berth.
The intensity of the match was evident from the opening kickoff with both sets of fans roaring their national teams forward.
Iraq were the first to signal their intent with midfielder Amir Al-Ammari forcing Rami Hamadi into the first save of the game on 22 minutes. Iraq amassed three corner kicks shortly thereafter but Palestine dealt with each one with little fuss— a welcome relief for a side that was exploited ruthlessly by Jordan last Thursday.
Palestine’s best chance of the half came on the half hour mark through Hamed Hemdan who won the ball in the opposition third and set Oday Dabbagh free on the right flank. The ensuing cross for Tamer Seyam was impeded by what looked like a shirt pull and in the melee Hemdan popped up with a strike from the edge of the box that flew just wide of the post.
In spite of their pleas to the referee, VAR was not consulted for review. Things were about to go from bad to worse for Palestine as Iraq opened the scoring four minutes later.
Aymen Hussein scored in an incredible ten straight games last year and it was no surprise that he would open the scoring in Amman just as he had in Basra five months earlier. The Iraqi striker rose slightly higher than his club teammate Milad Termanini to make it 1-0 for the visitors.
At halftime, Ehab Abu Jazar rallied his men with a simple message: “Remember that you play for Palestine. That you represent people that are living in tents, can’t even find bread to eat, that are murdered all the time. So go out and fight for those people.”
The messaging was complemented with a gung-ho approach. Goalkeeper Rami Hamadi revealed in the game’s aftermath that there was no fear “We went out to attack and the coach told us if we lose by two or three, he would take the blame.”
This approach was aided by the fact that Iraq retreated deep into their own half as the game wore on.
Al-Fida’i kept coming in waves at the Iraqi goal and the introduction of NAC Breda’s Adam Kaied in the 60th minute left the Iraqis with few answers. As time ticked down the boisterous crowd grew nervous even going silent for stretches of the game.
Iraq’s goalkeeper denial of Wessam Abou Ali at near point blank range in the 83rd minute seemed to signal that this match, like the 18 that came before it, would follow a similar script and deliver an Iraq win.
That script was soon torn up as Wessam Abou Ali headed home an equalizer from a corner kick delivered perfectly by Adam Kaied.
An explosion of joy and relief echoed through the stadium but everyone knew that a point would do very little in Palestine’s quest to qualify for Round 4.
Six minutes of added time were shown by the fourth official and Palestine went into a trance looking to push the ball forward at every opportunity.
In the last minute of time added on, Palestine won their eleventh corner. Kaied’s delivery was close enough to Amid Mahajna who crashed into the ball like a collapsing domino.
The ball was in the back of the net and many Palestine supporters went into a state of pure delirium. The players were also beside themselves, Adam Kaied was on the verge of tears, substitute Musa Farawi started dancing with the corner kick flag, and even manager Ehab Abu Jazar found himself running alongside his charges.
The Saudi referee inexplicably added an extra 90 seconds after kickoff which further frayed the nerves of those in the stands.
When the final whistle did blow there was euphoria mixed with disbelief. Several members of Jordan’s police and gendarmerie congratulated members of the Palestinian press on their way to the post match press conference.
In the bowels of the Amman International Stadium, Palestine’s players made their way to the team bus. Amid Mahajna was sporting a cut on his forehead as a result of several of his teammates piling up on him following the game winner.
To the right, stood Adam Kaied flanked by assistant coach Mohammed Dajani when asked what value this victory held.
Kaied responded bluntly: “How many times has Palestine beaten Iraq?”
“Never.” responded the member of the press.
“There you go- that should tell you everything about the value of this win… We do everything for Gaza and Palestine and we dedicate this victory to the Palestinian people.”
Palestine’s last two matches of the group stage will be against Kuwait and Oman in June.
