FIFA Arab Cup
The Matchday Two draw with Tunisia took Palestine level on four points with Syria, who equalised late against Qatar.
A 90th-minute rocket from Omar Khribin secured a highly-dramatic draw for Syria, which cancelled out Ahmed Al Aaedin’s opener in the 77th minute.
Head coach Jose Lana praised his players’ determination and will be aiming for a strong showing when they face an equally confident Palestine side.
“We always aim to do the best possible in the game, and then we look at the result,” said Lana. “I’m proud of the players, they ran until their last breath and gave everything they had.”
“The draw is a good result for us and the team will try to secure qualification in the final match (against Palestine).”
While Syria will be counting on captain Khribin, who has scored in both games, to see them through, Palestine head coach Ihab Abu Jazar praised his team’s resilience.
“The players’ determination and refusal to give up was the main reason for the result.” said Abu Jazar. “Despite being two goals down, we managed to come back – individual errors can happen, but the important thing is we did not give up and proved that the national team has a strong character.”
“We work meticulously on set-pieces and we have players capable of executing instructions perfectly.”
Qatar thought they had secured a much-needed victory courtesy of Al Aaedin’s header but were left stunned after Khribin turned the tables with a late equaliser.
Julen Lopetegui has called on his players to raise the bar when they take on Tunisia.
“The match was extremely difficult and the team wasted the win in the final minutes after Syria scored the equaliser at the end,” said Lopetegui “We had many chances and could have sealed the victory had we taken advantage of the chances created.
“The team must correct its situation and address mistakes to be stronger in the future. We defended well but wasted many chances and scored only one goal; we will try in the third match to avoid what happened and regain balance.”
Photo: Syrian Football Association
Syria v Palestine
Venue: Education City Stadium (Al Rayyan)
Kick-off: Sunday, 20:00 (UTC+3)
Qatar v Tunisia
Venue: Al Bayt Stadium (Al Khor)
Kick-off: Sunday, 20:00 (UTC+3)
Related News
Item 1 of 5