The Palestinian team hope to reach the knockout stage of the Asian Cup for the first time to "put a smile on the faces of the Palestinian people”, one of its players said on Saturday.The tournament in Qatar is taking place against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and Palestinian skipper Musab al-Battat is aware the team’s performances have a meaning beyond football."We as players are part of the Palestinian people and live through the same suffering as the people,” al-Battat said on the eve of their opening match against Iran.He added: "We wish this (the war) will end soon and for this to be an exceptional tournament for us so we can put a smile on the faces of the Palestinian people.”Israel’s relentless bombardment has killed at least 23,843 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.Some Palestinian players have lost loved ones in the conflict. Palestine have been at the Asian Cup twice previously, and are yet to win a game, but their coach Makram Daboub said they hope to spring a surprise despite their troubled build-up."We have a good squad, our team is ready and we hope we deliver so we make our fans and people happy,” said the Tunisian. "We are looking to reach the last 16 - our people deserve to be happy and we are playing for them.”Also in Group C are Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, with the top two guaranteed a place in the knockout rounds. "Our squad is more than capable of reaching the last 16 and maybe even going further,” Daboub said.Despite no domestic football being played in recent weeks, Palestine managed a goalless draw against Lebanon and a narrow 1-0 defeat to Australia in their two matches of the Joint Qualifiers to the 2026 FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 back in November which served as preparation for the ongoing tournament."Our preparations went well, we are ready and fully aware of the size of the task at hand in this tournament. We are in good form at the moment and raring to go. There has been very little football activity in Palestine for three months since the start of the war and this impacted us negatively, but we played friendlies abroad and qualifiers matches. We want to put in good performances and get good results for our fans.” al-Battat said.
January 14, 2024 | 12:42 AM