Football Partnerships

By Paula Hancocks

It’s the first time I’ve seen a lap of honor before the game has even started — and the crowd loved it.

As the Palestinian football team kissed the ground of their new stadium before their match against Jordan, I looked around and saw grown men with tears in their eyes. Only a Palestinian can understand what it means to have their team play their first ever match on home soil. This was national pride at its purest.

As for the football itself, it started a little late (what doesn’t in the Middle East?), and my football expert producer tells me it was a great start for Palestine and a goal from the captain, but petered off towards the 1-1 draw.

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By Oakland Ross

It was an important day yesterday, as the Palestinian national soccer squad faced off against a pick-up team of players from the West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Hebron.

The game was a warm-up match for a momentous encounter Sunday, when Jordan’s Prince Ali and Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, the international soccer federation, will be among dignitaries watching as the Palestinians take the field against neighbouring Jordan in the first internationally recognized Palestinian home game.

Because of security restrictions and inadequate facilities, the Palestinians had had to play their home games in other countries, including Qatar and Jordan. That will change with Sunday’s friendly match.

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