Post by Salem6 on Apr 2, 2004 10:07:30 GMT
Ori Lewis
Palestine 1 - 1 Iraq
JERUSALEM, March 31 (Reuters) - Palestine's 1-1 draw with Iraq in a World Cup qualifier in Doha gave soccer fans throughout the West Bank and Gaza a rare reason to celebrate on Wednesday.
The draw put Palestine top of Asian qualifying Group Two on goal difference from Uzbekistan after two matches following their 8-0 win over Taiwan in their opening match last month.
The match against Iraq was played in the Gulf state of Qatar because of the violence in the Middle East, but at home the conflict was put aside for the afternoon while fans gathered at cafes and in friend's houses to watch the game.
'We are very proud because our team is still new, but thank God we are doing well and we hope to do better,' said Mo'ayed Salah Eddin as he watched the game at a cafe in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
'Despite our 'Nakba' (catastrophe), the death of our leaders and young men, we are still playing football and winning and we want to show the world that we are people of peace and not terrorism, the way some think of us,' said Nael al-Omari.
'We have good spirit everywhere we go,' he continued.
The Nakba is a term which the Palestinians use to describe the displacement of hundreds of thousands of their countrymen during the war which led to Israel's foundation in 1948.
Iraq took the lead in the 20th minute when Razzaq Farhan rose high to head home a free kick taken by Immad Mohammed.
Palestine's equaliser came in the 71st minute from a well taken free kick by Roberto Beshe from 17 metres out in front of goal.
The ex-patriate Chilean who plays in Greece, curved his shot past the defensive wall leaving the Iraqi goalkeeper no chance.
The result put Palestine top of Group 2 in the Asian Zone qualifiers with four points from their opening two matches, leaving them ahead of Uzbekistan on goal difference.
Iraq are third with two points from their two matches and Taiwan are bottom of the four-team group with no points.
The Palestinian team is made up of locally-based players and ex-pats, mainly from Chile where a number of them play for local league side Palestino.
The team is coached by Austrian Alfred Riedl, while his assitant is Israeli Azmi Nasser.
Nasser, a former coach of Israeli Premier League side Ahi Nazareth, coached Palestine in their last World Cup qualifying campaign when they failed to advance past the first stage on the road to the finals that were held in Japan and South Korea in 2002.
soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=295901&cc=5739
Palestine 1 - 1 Iraq
JERUSALEM, March 31 (Reuters) - Palestine's 1-1 draw with Iraq in a World Cup qualifier in Doha gave soccer fans throughout the West Bank and Gaza a rare reason to celebrate on Wednesday.
The draw put Palestine top of Asian qualifying Group Two on goal difference from Uzbekistan after two matches following their 8-0 win over Taiwan in their opening match last month.
The match against Iraq was played in the Gulf state of Qatar because of the violence in the Middle East, but at home the conflict was put aside for the afternoon while fans gathered at cafes and in friend's houses to watch the game.
'We are very proud because our team is still new, but thank God we are doing well and we hope to do better,' said Mo'ayed Salah Eddin as he watched the game at a cafe in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
'Despite our 'Nakba' (catastrophe), the death of our leaders and young men, we are still playing football and winning and we want to show the world that we are people of peace and not terrorism, the way some think of us,' said Nael al-Omari.
'We have good spirit everywhere we go,' he continued.
The Nakba is a term which the Palestinians use to describe the displacement of hundreds of thousands of their countrymen during the war which led to Israel's foundation in 1948.
Iraq took the lead in the 20th minute when Razzaq Farhan rose high to head home a free kick taken by Immad Mohammed.
Palestine's equaliser came in the 71st minute from a well taken free kick by Roberto Beshe from 17 metres out in front of goal.
The ex-patriate Chilean who plays in Greece, curved his shot past the defensive wall leaving the Iraqi goalkeeper no chance.
The result put Palestine top of Group 2 in the Asian Zone qualifiers with four points from their opening two matches, leaving them ahead of Uzbekistan on goal difference.
Iraq are third with two points from their two matches and Taiwan are bottom of the four-team group with no points.
The Palestinian team is made up of locally-based players and ex-pats, mainly from Chile where a number of them play for local league side Palestino.
The team is coached by Austrian Alfred Riedl, while his assitant is Israeli Azmi Nasser.
Nasser, a former coach of Israeli Premier League side Ahi Nazareth, coached Palestine in their last World Cup qualifying campaign when they failed to advance past the first stage on the road to the finals that were held in Japan and South Korea in 2002.
soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=295901&cc=5739