LAHORE – Palestine are the first soccer team to visit Pakistan in the last four years since Lahore hosted the international match in 2007 when Pakistan faced the then-Asian Champion Iraq in World Cup qualifier. The Tuesday’s Lahore clash will be the third between the two teams in soccer history.
Palestine were 3-0 winners on February 18, 2006 when Pakistan was in training camp at Manama, Bahrain for 14th Asia Cup QR preparation under former coach Salman Sharida (Bahrain), the coach of his own country in 15th Asian Cup last January. Palestine, led by Israeli-Arab coach Azmi Nasser, struck through Fahed Attal (2) and Fahdi Salim at Bahrain’s National Stadium. But Azmi’s life was sadly cut short after suffering a heart-attack a year later.
Ibrahim Munasarah and Mohammed Al-Jeish were scorers when both the teams entered the Doha field on April 2, 2000 for the first-ever tie between the two in 12th Asian Cup, with Palestine winning 2-0 against Pakistan, coached by John Henry Layton and David Burns.
