Palestine frustrated by UAE, Australia into Asian Cup last 16

post-img

Palestine kept their hopes of reaching the knockout stages at the Asian Cup alive with a 1-1 draw against 10-man United Arab Emirates on Thursday while Australia booked their spot in the next round, according to AFP.

Uzbekistan are in a strong position to proceed too after defeating India 3-0. Hosts and holders Qatar are already through.

A moment's silence was held before Palestine's match with the UAE, played against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

Most of the crowd of over 40,000 in Doha roared their support for Palestine, but the UAE opened the scoring midway through the first half through Sultan Adil's header.

Palestine were awarded a penalty and UAE defender Khalifa Al-Hammadi was sent off in the 37th minute, but Tamer Seyam saw his spot kick saved by Khalid Eisa.

Palestine equalised five minutes into the second half when UAE defender Bader Nasser headed the ball into his own goal.

But they could not go on to claim their first ever win at the Asian Cup, Eisa denying them with a series of crucial saves.

If they can achieve that first win against Hong Kong in their next game, Palestine would likely progress.

Jackson Irvine scored the only goal in a stodgy 1-0 victory over Syria to put Australia into the last 16 with a game to spare.

World