The stage is about for a historic conflict at Al Bayt Stadium as Palestine enters their first-ever Asian Cup Spherical of 16 in opposition to reigning champions Qatar on Monday. Each groups goal for glory on this essential knockout encounter.
Match Preview
Qatar completed the group section of this competitors with an ideal report for the second time in a row and didn’t concede a objective in any of their matches.
The Maroons have solely let in a single objective of their final 10 Asian Cup fixtures, together with each the group and knockout levels, and have by no means been behind in any of these matches.
Other than a 2-1 loss to Jordan in the beginning of 2024, this staff has been almost unbeatable when taking the lead.
The aforementioned defeat was the one time they misplaced a sport after scoring first for the reason that finish of the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Out of the ten targets they’ve conceded since September, solely two have come within the first half, they usually haven’t trailed at halftime since their Gold Cup quarter-final loss to Panama (3-0) final summer season.
Since changing into the supervisor in December, Tintin Marquez has received 4 out of 5 matches in cost, with the lone defeat to Jordan being the one time his staff has conceded.
Qatar is undefeated of their final six aggressive matches in opposition to Palestine, they usually haven’t conceded a objective in any of their earlier 4 conferences with them.
Palestine secured their first-ever victory at this event of their remaining group fixture, profitable by three targets, which is their greatest win since June 2022 (a 4-0 victory over the Philippines).
Monday’s match would be the Palestinians’ first look within the knockout stage of any event since profitable the 2020 Bangabandhu Cup.
Within the Asian Cup group stage, Makram Daboub’s males scored 5 targets, which is 2 greater than their whole in 9 earlier matches earlier than the event.
For the primary time, Palestine managed to attain in each match within the group stage, after failing to search out the again of the web 4 years in the past.
Lately, the Lions of Canaan have been comparatively stable defensively, conceding one objective or fewer in six of their final seven matches in all competitions.
Palestine’s solely victory over Qatar of their 10 earlier encounters occurred in 2002 (a 2-0 win), however eight of their all-time conferences with Qatar have been determined by a objective or much less.
Crew Information
Of their final match, all three Qatar goalkeepers noticed sport motion. Saad Al-Sheeb began, however he was changed by Salah Zakaria at halftime. Nevertheless, Zakaria was injured simply over an hour into the match, and Meshaal Barsham needed to end the sport.
9 gamers had been added to the beginning lineup for that sport, with solely Bassam Al-Rawi and Mostafa Meshaal retaining their locations from the earlier match.
Captain Hassan Al-Haydos got here off the bench and scored shortly after coming into the match, marking his first objective of the 2023 Asian Cup.
Palestine made two modifications to their beginning lineup of their historic victory over Hong Kong. Mohammed Khalil and Amid Mahajna changed Camilo Saldana and Mohammed Rashid.
Islam Batran made his first look of the competitors, approaching as an alternative choice to Tamer Seyam within the latter levels of the second half.
On Tuesday, Oday Dabbagh scored twice, Zaid Qunbar scored his first objective for the nationwide staff, and Rami Hamadeh made only one save to maintain a clear sheet.
Doable Beginning Lineups
Qatar: (4-3-3)
Barsham;
Al-Rawi, Salman, Mendes, Ahmed;
Assadalla, Fatehi, Gaber;
Mohammad, Ali, Afif
Palestine: (4-4-2)
Hamadeh;
Al-Battat, Termanini, Saleh, Saldana;
Mahajna, Jaber, Kharoub, Abu Warda;
Z. Qunbar, Dabbagh
Prediction: Qatar 1-0 Palestine
They’ve proven a robust protection all through the group stage, and we imagine they may narrowly defeat a motivated Palestinian facet that creates scoring alternatives.