LAHORE – Palestinian coach Moussa Bezaz believes that the friendly series against Pakistan, which will open on March 1, will help them assess the skill level of their players before the coming events.
Pakistan and Palestine will play four-test series on home and away basis with the first being played tomorrow and the second on March 4 at Karachi while Pakistan will visit Palestine to play on May 24 and 27. Talking to journalists in his first interaction with the media here at the FIFA Football House, the Palestine head of the delegation Mohammed Abu Srour praised the way the Pakistan people welcomed his team at the airport.
Bezaz and Srour thanked Pakistan Football Federation President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, also AFC Executive Committee member, and Palestinian Football Association (PFA)’s President Al Rajoub Jibril for the tour of the South Asian country. The heads of both the associations agreed to give their national teams training in 2011 with bilateral series for coming AFC Challenge Cup, World Cup and Olympics Qualifiers and SAFF/WAFF Championship.
Palestine used to play WAFF Championship, an international tournament for selected West Asian countries and territories, while regional show for Pakistan is SAFF Championship. Pakistan like Palestine will be fielding their under-21 team that is preparing for the Olympic qualifiers and the series would will help them prepare for the tough assignments that await them in coming days.
Having not bothered with the security situation in the country, the Palestinian team and officials said they were delighted to be in a country which has stood with them in times of need. “Since official football in Palestine is only 11 years old, it is natural that there is pressure on us in series against Pakistan. With the next FIFA Ranking to be issued on March 9, both the brotherly nations are close to each other currently, with Palestine five places below to Pakistan’s 173.
“But we were motivated to improve after February 9 defeat at the hands of Tanzania 0-1, and to send a message to all Palestine football lovers that we have to confirm that we are improving with time,” said Bezaz. “Obviously, the expectations are always high. But my players should be good at dealing with such pressure because the pressure would give us energy to compete so we would not want this pressure to go away,” said Bezaz, also the coach of the Palestinian team.
Bouzaz added that Palestine received the inaugural FIFA Development Award in recognition of the achievement and it would be an historic visit to Pakistan despite all the relations between two nations over the years,” he added. This is the first ever tour of any Palestine team to Pakistan and it would be the same for Pakistan.
Bezaz hoped Palestine wins as many matches and climbs up the FIFA rankings and that by playing more friendly matches would help the cause. “I hope that Palestine can qualify for the Asian Cup and then the FIFA World Cup finals.”
