Palestine win 2-1 against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pakistan-c755 – International friendly football match
Pakistan and Palestine clashed with each other for a football match at the Punjab Stadium, Lahore. Palestine scored twice in the first half to win 2-1.
The touring team was playing their first match in Pakistan and they were delighted after the result.
However, in the past both teams have met twice and Pakistan has lost both games. The first game was in Doha where Palestine won 2-0 and the last one they played was in the Asia Cup of 2006 in Manama where Palestine thrashed Pakistan 3-0.
Both these nations are not known for their football skills, but the teams produced high quality football. The teams relied on their counter-attack strategy and both teams produced ample chances to score.
Early in the game, Pakistan spilled an easy chance when Mehmood Khan missed the target by a hand shaking distance. After the early possession by the hosts, the visiting team started to settle down and then dominated the game for most of the time.
The balanced battle continued till the 23rd minute of the game when Pakistan conceded a needless free kick. Atif Abubilal for Palestine scored after the free kick and the goal keeper Mohammad http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Omar-c28540 failed to stop the shot.
Following the opening goal, the young Pakistan team failed to gather their concentration and kept on losing possession in the mid field.
Just seven minutes after the first goal, Husam Wadi doubled the lead with his successful penalty. The naive defence of Pakistan was often caught napping and once they tried to tackle in panic, it was not neat at all.
However, the home team got a decent chance, and Mohammad Tauseef scored for Pakistan. It was a penalty awarded to Pakistan and Tauseef made no mistake to tap it in.
As the second half started, both teams attacked but the chances kept on spilling. Palestine’s team was keen to score more, but the defence line of Pakistan stood firm in their way. Pakistan got two decent chances but failed to score an equaliser.
As the final whistle was blown, the crowd of 3000 people were happy with the result. Primarily they were happy to see a friendly international game in Pakistan. Considering the situation in Pakistan, no international team is visiting Pakistan and this was
a positive step taken by both the countries.
One of the Palestine students watching the match said, “I’m least bothered about security concerns and am here to watch my favorite game”.
He went on to say, “This is a rare opportunity for us to cheer for our team and it’s the best entertainment for us away from home”.
The second match of this two match series will be played on Thursday 3rd March in Karachi. The returns legs will be played in Palestine on the 24th and 27th May.
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