Post by cjeagle on Mar 22, 2011 5:12:52 GMT 8
Here is a short preview courtesy of Paul Perez from his blog:
onwardphilippines.blogspot.com/2011/03/azkals-2012-challenge-cup-group-preview.html
Palestine Al-Fursan (The Knights); Al Fida'i (The Fighters)
Head Coach: Mousa Bezaz ( French-Algerian)
Played as a defender
Previously managed French Clubs, before signing with Palestine in July 2009.
FIFA Ranking: 178
Key Players: #11 FW Fahed Attal, #15 FW Ahmed Keshkesh
View roster: here
Head to Head with RP: none
Challenge cup record: Best --- Quaterfinals; (2W-3D-1L); Total goals: 17
Since 2008: (0W-3D-4L); Goals: 1, Goals Allowed: 14
Analysis: Theme --- "Starving for a win" Palestine is like the Prodigal team of this group, they have been an on and off team. Recently they have just hosted their first home game in years and the team is inspired. The Azkals should watch out fro Fattal who once scored 8 goals against Macau. Little has been known about the team, there are a mix of players playing in foreign clubs, means the team in "reinforcement mode", just like the Philippines. Among the teams in the group, Palestine is for me the most unpredictable and should not be taken lightly despite their low FIFA ranking.
__________________________________________________________
My take:
We don't really know what to expect from this team as their roster changes depending upon whether the Israelis releases their players as well as which of their foreign based players are available. That is why their results change from one tournament to the next.
For this tournament this is their current roster:
Goalkeepers:
Mohammed Shbair, Shabab Al-Khaleel
Abdullah Saidawi, Hilal Al-Quds
Saed Abu Sleem, Balata
Defenders
Ahmed Harbi, Al-Am'ary
Mohammed Al-Masri, Dhahrieh
Khaled Mahdi, Al-Am'ary
Samer Hijazi, Jabal Al-Mokaber
Husam Abu Saleh, Hilal Al-Quds
Rafit Eyad, Jabal Al-Mokaber
Midfielders
Ayman Alhendi, Shabab Al-Khaleel
Houssam Wadi, Jabal Al-Mokaber
Suleiman Obeid, Al-Am'ary
Hesham Salhe, Hilal Al-Quds
Khader Yousef, Wadi Al-Nes
Ashraf Nu'man, Wadi Al-Nes
Atef Abu Bilal, Dhahrieh
Ismail Amour, Jabal Al-Mokaber
Forwards
Mohammed Jebreen, Al-Bireh
Mohammed Shatrit, Shabab Al-Khaleel
Eyad Abugharqud, Al-Am'ary
Murad Alyan, Hilal Al-Quds
As you can see most of their players are locally based and their Chilean and Swedish based players will not be participating. Their best player longtime captain Ramzi Saleh, their starting goalie, will not be available as he is recovering from ACL surgery. However they have had more than a month to prepare as a group and have had a couple of friendlies with Tanzania (0-1 loss), Pakistan(2-1 win and 0-0 draw) and the Kuwait Olympic team(0-2 loss) so they are familiar with each other.
Like any West Asian team, they are bigger and more physical than would normally be the case against their SEA counterparts but with our foreign based reinforcements of European descent, we might even have the advantage.
In their previous match in this group they scored a 2-0 win over a Bangladeshi team that consisted mostly of players from their U-23 Olympic squad. It is Palestine's first competitive win in 5 years.
For our game against Palestine, we will be adding Jerry Lucena from Aarhus FC in Denmark to the starting lineup. Acc. to him, he was informed that they will line him up in the defensive midfielder spot which means that Borromeo can return to his normal position as centerback. Jerry Lucena will be a big addition to our team as he has tons of experience at the top levels of European soccer.
Taking all this into consideration, I predict a close win for us possibly
1-0 or 2-1.
onwardphilippines.blogspot.com/2011/03/azkals-2012-challenge-cup-group-preview.html
Palestine Al-Fursan (The Knights); Al Fida'i (The Fighters)
Head Coach: Mousa Bezaz ( French-Algerian)
Played as a defender
Previously managed French Clubs, before signing with Palestine in July 2009.
FIFA Ranking: 178
Key Players: #11 FW Fahed Attal, #15 FW Ahmed Keshkesh
View roster: here
Head to Head with RP: none
Challenge cup record: Best --- Quaterfinals; (2W-3D-1L); Total goals: 17
Since 2008: (0W-3D-4L); Goals: 1, Goals Allowed: 14
Analysis: Theme --- "Starving for a win" Palestine is like the Prodigal team of this group, they have been an on and off team. Recently they have just hosted their first home game in years and the team is inspired. The Azkals should watch out fro Fattal who once scored 8 goals against Macau. Little has been known about the team, there are a mix of players playing in foreign clubs, means the team in "reinforcement mode", just like the Philippines. Among the teams in the group, Palestine is for me the most unpredictable and should not be taken lightly despite their low FIFA ranking.
__________________________________________________________
My take:
We don't really know what to expect from this team as their roster changes depending upon whether the Israelis releases their players as well as which of their foreign based players are available. That is why their results change from one tournament to the next.
For this tournament this is their current roster:
Goalkeepers:
Mohammed Shbair, Shabab Al-Khaleel
Abdullah Saidawi, Hilal Al-Quds
Saed Abu Sleem, Balata
Defenders
Ahmed Harbi, Al-Am'ary
Mohammed Al-Masri, Dhahrieh
Khaled Mahdi, Al-Am'ary
Samer Hijazi, Jabal Al-Mokaber
Husam Abu Saleh, Hilal Al-Quds
Rafit Eyad, Jabal Al-Mokaber
Midfielders
Ayman Alhendi, Shabab Al-Khaleel
Houssam Wadi, Jabal Al-Mokaber
Suleiman Obeid, Al-Am'ary
Hesham Salhe, Hilal Al-Quds
Khader Yousef, Wadi Al-Nes
Ashraf Nu'man, Wadi Al-Nes
Atef Abu Bilal, Dhahrieh
Ismail Amour, Jabal Al-Mokaber
Forwards
Mohammed Jebreen, Al-Bireh
Mohammed Shatrit, Shabab Al-Khaleel
Eyad Abugharqud, Al-Am'ary
Murad Alyan, Hilal Al-Quds
As you can see most of their players are locally based and their Chilean and Swedish based players will not be participating. Their best player longtime captain Ramzi Saleh, their starting goalie, will not be available as he is recovering from ACL surgery. However they have had more than a month to prepare as a group and have had a couple of friendlies with Tanzania (0-1 loss), Pakistan(2-1 win and 0-0 draw) and the Kuwait Olympic team(0-2 loss) so they are familiar with each other.
Like any West Asian team, they are bigger and more physical than would normally be the case against their SEA counterparts but with our foreign based reinforcements of European descent, we might even have the advantage.
In their previous match in this group they scored a 2-0 win over a Bangladeshi team that consisted mostly of players from their U-23 Olympic squad. It is Palestine's first competitive win in 5 years.
For our game against Palestine, we will be adding Jerry Lucena from Aarhus FC in Denmark to the starting lineup. Acc. to him, he was informed that they will line him up in the defensive midfielder spot which means that Borromeo can return to his normal position as centerback. Jerry Lucena will be a big addition to our team as he has tons of experience at the top levels of European soccer.
Taking all this into consideration, I predict a close win for us possibly
1-0 or 2-1.