Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Male: Coach Jamal Mahmoud hailed Palestine's historic first-time qualification for next year's AFC Asian Cup following Friday's win over the Philippines in the final of the AFC Challenge Cup.
A free-kick from tournament leading scorer Ashraf Al Fawaghra a minute before the hour mark at the National Stadium saw 2012 semi-finalists Palestine edge out the Philippines 1-0 to complete an unbeaten campaign.
And with the winner of the fifth edition of the AFC Challenge Cup also securing the 16th and final berth at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, Palestine will join defending champions Japan, Jordan and Iraq in Group D at next year's tournament in Australia.
"This was a historic match and a historic achievement," said former Jordan international Mahmoud, who was appointed in 2011 and guided Palestine to their first-ever win at the WAFF Championship after beating Lebanon 1-0 in Kuwait City during the 2012 edition of the tournament.
"We had experience in the last Challenge Cup when we made mistakes and we took that experience for this championship."
Palestine topped Group A following wins over Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar and a draw with tournaments hosts the Maldives.
Having lost to eventual champions DPR Korea at the semi-final stage in 2012 before losing the third place play-off to the Philippines, 2006 quarter-finalists Palestine then recorded a 2-0 win over SAFF champions Afghanistan to earn their first appearance in the AFC Challenge Cup final.
And after dominating the final against a previously unbeaten Philippines, Palestine now must turn their attentions to next year's AFC Asian Cup in Australia.
"We had many players who could not come with us this time due to problems, but we hope they can come with us to Australia," added Mahmoud.
"We need to make more training camps and more tough friendly matches before the Asian Cup."
And asked about their AFC Asian Cup opener against four-time champions Japan on January 12 at Newcastle Stadium, a smiling Mahmoud said: "We will see what we can do."