Palestine supporters cheer for their team. — AFP
South Korea captain Son Heung-min commended the resilience of the Palestinian team after the Tottenham Hotspur forward secured a point for his side in a 1-1 draw with the war-affected team in Amman on Tuesday during the third phase of Asia's World Cup preliminaries. Son equalized in the 16th minute after Zeid Qunbar had given the Palestinians an early lead, capitalizing on an under-hit back-pass by Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae. The Palestinians had previously frustrated the Koreans with a 0-0 draw in their qualifier in Seoul in September, as Makram Daboub's side continues to perform despite the shadow of the Israel-Hamas conflict, which has claimed over 40,000 lives in Gaza since last October.
"I'd like to applaud them," Son said of the Palestinians, who were compelled to play in neutral Amman due to the ongoing security situation. "I think they were really well prepared despite being in such a difficult situation and they executed their plans really well. I think that's something we can learn from them. I am disappointed that we didn't win and hopefully, we will play better next year." The draw halted South Korea's streak of four consecutive wins in qualifying but Hong Myung-bo's side remains on course to advance to the World Cup finals with a three-point lead over second-placed Iraq in Group B. The Palestinian team is currently at the bottom of the group.
The top two teams from each of Asia's three groups in the preliminaries automatically qualify for the World Cup, and the Koreans are aiming to participate in an 11th consecutive tournament. "I think we made this match difficult for ourselves because of the mistake," Son said, referring to the equalizer he scored after a neat interplay with Lee Jae-sung. "We tried to bounce back and scored the equalizer pretty early. But we could have won this match if we'd converted our opportunities."
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