June 1st, 2024: This Week in Palestinian Football
PFA yet to announce squad for upcoming qualifiers vs. Lebanon and Australia but here is what the 29-man squad will look like
National Teams the world over have announced their squads to compete in upcoming World Cup qualifiers or important tournaments such as the Copa America and European Championship. The one notable exception? Palestine.
Football Palestine understands that the reason for the delay is because the PFA wanted to wait until league games end on Sunday evening before making the announcement.
The squad will be without the most experienced backup goalkeepers for a multitude of reasons. Amr Kaddoura’s wife is set to give birth and has been excused from traveling, Abed Yassin had trepedations about joining in the current political environment, and Khaled Azzam who was called up was prevented from travelling.
Fans have also protested the decision not to call up Mahmoud Eid (for reasons unknown) and Alaa Aldeen Hassan (for legitamiNational Teams the world over have announced their squads to compete in upcoming World Cup qualifiers or important tournaments such as the Copa America and European Championship. The one notable exception? Palestine.
Football Palestine understands that the reason for the delay is because the PFA wanted to wait until league games end on Sunday evening before making the announcement.
The squad will be without the most experienced backup goalkeepers for a multitude of reasons. Amr Kaddoura’s wife is set to give birth and has been excused from traveling, Abed Yassin had trepidations about joining in the current political environment, and Khaled Azzam who was called up was prevented from traveling.
Fans have also protested the decision not to call up Mahmoud Eid (for reasons unknown) and Alaa Aldeen Hassan (for legitimate reasons we will reveal below).
The rest of the squad is as follows:
As expected there are debut call-ups for Wessam Abou Ali, Omar Faraj, and Moustafa Zeidan. The defender the team was chasing bowed out at the last minute and seems to still need convincing.
There are two surprises in the list: Jonathan Cantiallana who is presumably called in as cover for Mahmoud Abu Warda and Mohammed Darweesh who should provide cover at the #6 position as well as lift spirits in the locker room. The diminutive midfielder has been Palestine’s de facto attacking midfielder in the 4-3-3. Should he not be able to fully recover from his injury Jonathan could be called upon as a substitute to the debutant Moustafa Zeidan.
Khaled Al-Nabris: A symbol of Gaza’s valiance
For so many athletes, Israel’s genocide of Gaza has resulted in death and destruction. According to the PFA, 300 members of Palestine’s sporting family have been martyred since the start of the war. Amongst them 209 were associated with football (the most high profile of which were Olympic Team Coach Hani Al-Masdar and former national teamers Mouyin Al-Maghrabi and Mohammed Barakat), 47 of whom were under the age of 18. There are nine players in administrative detention including former national team player Ahmad Abu Khadija. 47 sporting installations (40 of them in Gaza) have been damaged or destroyed.
For those who have not been murdered, their careers and sporting aspirations have come to a grinding halt. The situation in Gaza renders training impossible and travel out of the Strip involves (until Israel’s occupation of the Philadelphi corridor) a complex series of bribes that need to be paid to Egyptian officials.
Khaled Al-Nabris, one of the stars of the Olympic Team, found himself in such a position. The 21 year old attacker’s talent was so evident that he was top scorer of the Gaza League at the tender age of 18. That prolific goal scoring ability attracted the attention of Egyptian giants Ismaily who secured Nabris’s signature to a five year deal.
Things went well in Al-Nabris’s first season as the attacker managed to score a debut goal in both league and cup competitions whilst being used in cameo appearances.
Year 2 (the 2022/23 season) was a disaster. The player and the club argued over unpaid wages which led to the player to take the club to court.
In February 2024, the two sides decided to settle the issue and allow for the player to return to the team. Al-Nabris needed months to get back into shape but he has found his form over the past three weeks. Starting two league matches and a cup match.
He opened his account for the season in the Egypt Cup an equalizing goal against Qana sparked a comeback for the Dervishes.
If Al-Nabris continues on his current trajectory a national team call-up could be in his future. His ability to play on the wing is an added bonus to Al-Fida’i who are now stacked at the #9 position.
Alaa Aldeen Hassan threw a tantrum on the sidelines during the Bangladesh qualifier
