Palestine and South Korea match
South Korean captain Son Heung-min praised the Palestinian team’s resilience after the Tottenham Hotspur striker gave his team a point in a 1-1 draw with the war-torn team in the Jordanian capital on Tuesday in the third round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Son equalized in the 16th minute after Zaid Qanbar gave the Palestinian team an early lead.
The Palestinian team frustrated its Korean counterpart with a goalless draw in their previous qualifying match in Seoul in September, while coach Makram Daboub’s team continues to compete.
“I would like to praise them,” Son said of the Palestinian team forced to play in neutral Amman due to the security situation.
“I think they were very well prepared despite being in such a difficult situation and they executed their plans very well.
“I think that’s something we can learn from them. I’m disappointed that we didn’t win and I hope we play better next year.”
The draw ended a series of four consecutive victories for South Korea in the qualifiers, but coach Hong Myung-bo’s team is still on track to advance to the World Cup finals, three points ahead of second-placed Iraq in Group B.
The Palestinian team ranks last in the group.
The top two teams in each of the three groups in the third stage of the Asian qualifiers qualify directly to the World Cup finals, and South Korea is trying to qualify for the tournament for the 11th time in a row.
“I think we made the game difficult for ourselves,” said Son, who equalized the score after a wonderful pass from Lee Jae-sung.
“We tried to come back and scored an equalizer early. But we could have won the match if we had succeeded in taking advantage of the opportunities we had.”
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