The Palestine national team achieved a major victory over Tajikistan with a score of 4/2, on Monday, as part of a friendly international tournament held in the Chinese city of Chongqing.
The Tajik national team took the lead with an early goal scored by Sheridin Popoev after four minutes, and Asad Al-Hamalawi equalized for Palestine in the 21st minute.
Tajikistan took the lead again with a goal by Nazim Babajanov in the 24th minute, before El Hamalawi scored the second goal for himself and his country in the third minute of stoppage time, ending the first half in a 2/2 draw.
In the second half, Al-Fedayi decided the match in their favor with goals from Aladdin Hassan and Uday Al-Dabbagh in the 46th and 74th minutes.
The Palestinian national team is preparing to compete in the 2027 Asian Nations Cup, where it was drawn into Arab matches in the first group, which includes the Saudi national team, the organizer of the tournament, the Sultanate of Oman, and Kuwait.
Youssef Al-Nasrawi, the Iraqi national team player, confirmed the readiness of the “Lions of Mesopotamia” for the next confrontation, indicating that the team will work to analyze its opponent and prepare in the best way in order to achieve victory.
Al-Nasrawi said in an interview with the media: “We had a training session yesterday, and today we have a very important session, during which we will analyze the opponent, and we will enter tomorrow’s match with the goal of achieving victory.”
After the Iraqi media asked him to send a message to the fans in Arabic, after he began his speech in English, Al-Nasrawi said: “Thank you. We are always happy to have you with us in the matches, and God willing, we will achieve victory tomorrow.”
Regarding his participation in the last match and his aspirations for the next match, he said: “This is my goal in every match. I want to show my potential and help the team.”
Hossam Hassan, the coach of the Egyptian national football team, confirmed that the technical staff preferred to rest Mohamed Salah, the team’s captain, during the confrontation with South Sudan due to the artificial grass pitch, stressing that the safety of the players comes first.
Hossam Hassan said during the press conference held Monday in Juba that he was happy to be in South Sudan, stressing that Egypt was and will continue to be an incubator for its brothers.
He added: “Salah is one of the key players in the Egyptian national team and one of the most important players in the world, and the decision to rest him came after discussing the matter with him because of the artificial grass pitch. Salah spoke to me about this matter before the Angola match and we agreed to rest him. “We need him in the upcoming matches, and the safety of any of my players comes first.”
The Egyptian national team's coach stressed his great confidence in all the players, stressing his respect for all the team members, led by Salah, as he is an important and influential player.
Hossam Hassan praised the young striker Hamza Abdel Karim, describing him as a great and promising player, stressing his confidence in his abilities.
Regarding the confrontation with South Sudan, the Egyptian national team’s coach said that his team is ready to deal with the pitch and the temperature, stressing the difficulty of competing on the African continent. He also said: “There is no easy match in Africa now.”
In another context, Hossam Hassan said that his statements regarding Mohamed El-Shenawy, the goalkeeper of Al-Ahly and the national team, were misunderstood, stressing his respect for all players and his appreciation for what the international goalkeeper provided with his country’s national team.
Hossam Hassan continued that his talk about El-Shenawy was not intended to belittle the goalkeeper, explaining that he was talking about his shoulder injury during the recent period.
He added: “My statements about Mohamed El-Shenawy were misunderstood. I respect everyone, and I said that El-Shenawy had a shoulder injury at the time, and I do not mean to belittle any individual.”
He continued: “All the players are my brothers and sons, and El-Shenawy is one of the players who are loyal to the team and we trust him and all the guards.”
The Egyptian national team coach stressed his appreciation for the players with experience, as well as the players currently with the team and those absent from it, pointing in particular to Mohamed Hani, the Al-Ahly player.
Hossam Hassan concluded his statements in this regard: “All appreciation to the great players like Mohamed Hani and the present and absent players.”
The Egyptian national team is preparing to face South Sudan, on Tuesday, in the second round of qualifiers for the 2027 African Cup of Nations, noting that the Pharaohs started the journey with a goalless draw with Angola in Cairo, last Friday.
