Palestinian director-GK's smile that he couldn't even prepare properly "We have a dream, I'm happy with the draw with South Korea"
Sep 05, 2024
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It was the smile of Palestinian coach Markram Davub. Hong Myung-bo's first step was graduation. South Korea's A national team, led by head coach Hong, drew 0-0 against Palestine in the first Group B match of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup at Seoul World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. on the 5th. Hong Myung-bo showed unstable performance from the first round, casting a dark shadow toward advancing to the finals for the 11th consecutive time. South Korea was in Group B along with Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Oman, and Kuwait. In the third qualifying round, 18 teams will be divided into three groups of six teams and play a full league home and away. A total of six teams, ranked first and second in each group, will win tickets to the World Cup finals.
Hong Myung-bo's poor performance meant Palestinian propaganda. The Palestinians are a very strange team. I've never had a fight with national team A. The Korean men's and women's teams clashed only once. In terms of objective power, South Korea has the upper hand. In the FIFA rankings, South Korea is ranked 23rd and Palestine 96th. The Palestinians played well against South Korea, boasting solid organizational power and valiant performance.
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Dabub looked encouraged by the draw against Korea. "Today's game was tough, but we were able to bring in all the players we could bring in and bring good results in such a big game," he said in a post-match press conference. I'm happy to have a draw. I'm happy to give joy to the Palestinian fans who came to support me." Then "I wanted to give hope to the people in a difficult situation. I want to do my best for the fans in every game. I want to thank not only the Palestinian fans, but also the Korean fans who respected us."
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Dabub said of the result on the day, `We are sorry for the result of the game. Before the game, he judged that he was not fully prepared physically. There was a lot of worry in the second half. I thought it would be a difficult game because it was an away game and a home game for South Korea. The players followed tactically well and performed the performance they wanted. Both teams missed crucial opportunities, so I think it's a fair result." As for grass conditions "It was different from Malaysian grass. Sangam grass didn't seem to be 100%. I tried to match this condition. I trained in Malaysia, to adjust to the time difference. As much as I've adjusted to the time difference, the results have come out as much as I wanted."
vanbasten@sportschosun.com
