In the third round of the Asian Cup, Syria won 1-0 over India, Palestine won 3-0 over Hong Kong, China, the Chinese men's soccer team to participate in the Asian Cup decided to miss the best of the "third of the four groups", missed the last 16 knockout matches.
Syria and Palestine, two countries at war, have each locked up a spot in the last 16 of the Asian Cup.
"We have a strong will to participate in the Asian Cup and reach the knockout stage for the Palestinian people," said Palestinian head coach Dabb." We want to give hope to the Palestinians."
So far, 10 teams are locked in the last 16 of the Asian Cup, including Qatar, Tajikistan, Australia, Uzbekistan, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Syria and Palestine, one of the "four best third teams" by virtue of points and goal difference, squeezing out the national soccer team to qualify for the knockout rounds.
For Palestine, reaching the last 16 of the Asian Cup means a lot.
"Despite the suffering, we wanted to give hope to the Palestinian people. And we did."
After advancing to the last 16 of the Asian Cup, head coach Dabb said the result sends a message to the world that Palestinians deserve a better life.
In Palestine, an entire country is embroiled in war and civilians face the tragic fate of displacement and loss of life at any given moment.
But it is the same country that will soon be the ruins of a battlefield that not only qualified for the Asian Cup, but also advanced to the knockout stage.
In their first group game, Palestine lost 4-1 to a strong Iranian team. In their second group game, Palestine showed resilience and were much stronger than their own United Arab Emirates. After the United Arab Emirates scored an early goal, Palestine forced their opponent to make a mistake and drew, setting the stage for the group to advance.
"I was amazed at the will of the players." "Palestine is the master of our destiny and we broke through," Dabb said
As a result of the war in the country, the Palestinian players suffered daily during the Asian Cup as they feared for the safety of their families.
Nonetheless, on the soccer field, Palestine proved that it was no fish out of water to be slaughtered.
After beating their opponents in this round and advancing to the knockout stage of the Asian Cup, Dabb said it was a victory for the Palestinian people. "I want to thank my players, they were heroes today."
Syria is surrounded by war, artillery, planes and artillery, poverty and misery.
Syria has just been hit by a fresh round of shelling and people are in agony before advancing to the knockout stages of the Asian Cup.
But this suffering nation finds solace in soccer.
In the Asian Cup, Syria defeated Uzbekistan, ranked 68th in the world, in their first match. The Syrian players showed enough morale in the match to be touching.
In the second round of the group, Syria forced Australia, a Qatar World Cup Top 16 team, to embarrass them through tenacious defense and tacit cooperation.
Although Australia eventually beat Syria with a goal in the second half, it was the team's only goal.
Syria finished the group stage with a win, a draw and a loss to advance to the last 16 of the Asian Cup with four points.
Syrian soccer deserves to come out of the war.
