Rapid Reaction: Algeria 0:1 Palestine (Unofficial Friendly)
Palestine patches up the errors from Thursday's 3-0 reverse and sees out a 1-0 win in Annaba
Palestine Starting XI: Rami Hamadi, Ameed Sawafta, Yaser Hamed Mayor, Ali Rabei, Wajdi Nabhan; Hamed Hemdan, Odai Kharoub (Abdulhadi Rashid 80’), Moustafa Zeidan (Mahmoud Abuwarda 58’), Zaid Qunbar, Ahmed Taha (Felipe Massri 90+3’), Assad Al-Hamlawi (Hamza Hussein 58’)
GOALS: Zaid Qunbar 38’
Recap: The alarm bells were already sounding when Palestine took the pitch in Annaba for the second time this week. Thursday’s first encounter between the two sides featured very few positives for a Palestine side that looked bereft of ideas in and out of possession.
There were further rotations with Musa Farawi, Tamer Seyam, Michel Termanini, and Mahmoud Abuwarda all dropping out of the lineup. In their place came Hamed Hemdan, Ahmed Taha, Yaser Hamed Mayor, and Zaid Qunbar. Rami Hamadi replaced Abed Yassin in goal.
The work done between the two games seemed to have been effective as Palestine were at least well positioned while defending. Ali Rabei had a far more assured performance than he did on Thursday and Yaser Hamed Mayor, besides one misplaced pass in the first half, gave a vintage performance.
The presence of Rami Hamadi in goal meant a certain calmness reverberated around the team. Algeria were kept at bay for most of the first half and much of that was down to the captain on the night anticipating and snuffing out the danger. In the 19th minute, a cutback from Assad Al-Hamlawi found Odai Kharoub at the top of the box but his shot did little to trouble the Algerian goalkeeper.
Five minutes later, Rami Hamadi denied Rayan Kolli the opening goal with a straightforward save at his near post. On 26 minutes the same player kissed the bottom of the far post with a low, grass cutting effort. Kolli was popping up everywhere put his finishing kept failing him.
Yousri Bouzok would have Algeria’s best chance on the night but a looping ball that evaded all of Palestine’s defences seemed to surprise him and he clumsily hoofed it into the palms of a grateful Rami Hamadi.
The half ended with Palestine in the ascendancy following their brush with danger. Al-Hamlawi saw his 34th minute free kick saved by an outstretched Mehdi Hadid.
Palestine would find their breakthrough vis-a-vis the connection of former U23 teammates. Wajdi Nabhan collected a ball on the left flank and hit a switching ball in the direction of the onrushing Zaid Qunbar. The ball bounced in between the defender and goalkeeper. Hocine Dehiri thought Mehdi Hedid would collect it only for Zaid Qunbar to bamboozle everyone, nip in, and send a looping header to the back of the net.
It was the quintessential Qunbar goal. Water turned into wine.
Palestine were up for the fight in the second half as Algeria looked to remedy the scoreline. In the 55th minute, Al-Hamlawi dawdled on the ball instead of shooting after a lovely through ball sprung the offsides trap. Bougherra went to his bench and threw on players who had started the first game in search of an equalizer but the defence held firm. Hamadi made his best save on the night in the 60th minute and ten minutes later the crossbar came to his rescue to deny Rayan Kolli a deserved goal.
The woodwork would also deny Hamed Hemdan a spectacular goal from long range shortly thereafter.
Palestine’s final chance at doubling their lead came with ten minute to go with Yaser Hamed denied by Mehdi Hadid after Ameed Sawafta’s service following a short corner evaded everyone.
The final ten minutes and injury time were not pretty but Palestine survived, in large part thanks to the profligacy of Sofiane Bayazid.
A win following two concerning performances will come as welcome news to all involved as the ever important Arab Cup play-in draws nearer.
What I liked: Results are not important in friendly matches. This particular game will not even count towards the FIFA Ranking but it felt very important to win today following what happened on Thursday.
The aura of confidence had begun to dissipate quickly following the loss and performance against Malaysia. A win helps build confidence heading into a very important month. I also thought several fringe players could hold their heads high. Ameed Sawafta looks to have played himself onto the Arab Cup roster. Hamed Hemdan gets better with every game. Even the much maligned centre backs gave a good account of themselves.
What I didn’t like: There was a reticence to substitute players and Palestine got too conservative, too early by deploying Zaid Qunbar as the #9 in the 58th minute. Al-Nabris could have been given a run out and it seemed that there were spaces a quicker forward would have feasted on.
In general, the transition game leaves a lot to be desired. We still do not know how to win the ball and matriculate up the pitch with a series of precise moves. Perhaps the fact that we were shorthanded played a part in this.
I also thought we were lucky to survive the final moments of the game. I had flashbacks to what happened in Amman on June 10th. We defended too deep and invited too much pressure and if Sofiane Bayazid was more efficient Algeria could have easily drawn this game.
What we learned: Ameed Sawafta plays week in and week out in Jordan. He probably is not cut out to be a midfielder at international level but at this moment in time he could very well be Palestine’s second best right back.
Moustafa Zeidan can play and even when circumstances means Palestine sees precious little of the ball he still pops up with a couple of spectacular passes per game.
What’s Next: Palestine will be in action again in November for a pair of matches in Spain against Euskadi on November 15th and Catalunya on November 18th. The matches will be hosted in Bilbao and Barcelona, respectively.