Palestine host first World Cup qualifier on home soil
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Palestine hosted its very first World Cup qualifying match on home soil on Tuesday.
The Group A game against United Arab Emirates took place near the West Bank town of Ramallah and was a qualifier both for the 2018 World Cup and the 2019 Asian Cup.
Thousands of spectators turned out to watch the match, many seeing a football game live from the stands for the very first time.
One excited fan said: “I’m very happy because this is the first time I watch a match live, usually we watch it on TV. When you watch it live and for your own country it’s a different feeling, the atmosphere is great and I hope that the Fidaai (Palestinian team) wins.”
Unfortunately for the home supporters the match at the Faisal Husseini National Stadium in the A-Ram district, near Jerusalem, ended goalless.
But outside of the actual result it was an historic victory for Palestine and its people, who can now look forward to more World Cup home games – the next of which is against Saudi Arabia in October.