[Lam Cheuk Chun, Doha, Qatar] The Hong Kong team will face Palestine in the final match of the Asian Cup group stage. Since the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the end of last year, the Palestinians have been suffering from the effects of the war, which has also affected the team's preparation for the Asian Cup. This reporter interviewed Bassil Mikdadi, who has been covering Palestinian soccer for many years, to hear him talk about the significance of this team to the Palestinians.
Bassil, who was born in the United States but is fluent in Arabic, has been running a webpage dedicated to Palestinian soccer since 2008, and has written for European and Arab media outlets as well. 2015 was the first time he had the opportunity to cover the Asian Cup final week in Australia, and he remembers: "I thought I would be the only one who would be there to support the team. I thought I would be the only one there to support the team, but to my surprise, the entire Palestinian community showed up to support the team".
This is Bassil's third time to cover the Asian Cup final week. He said Hong Kong's experience reminds him of Palestine's first appearance in the final week: "Without the experience gained from losing all three matches of the 2015 Asian Cup, the team wouldn't be where it is today, and the young players who went to Australia at that time have now become the main players.
In the list of the Palestinian army this time, there are a lot of players playing in the local team, but the local league due to the impact of the war, since the beginning of October last year has been suspended, Bassil pointed out that the players do not have the opportunity to play a stable game, the performance is certainly difficult to ensure that the only way to maintain the state of training. Bassil said the war has made the team's preparation process very difficult: "Many of the players are from Gaza, and many of them have relatives and friends in the area, and they have to live in fear of the war every day, and because of the blockade by the Israeli army, there is a lack of food and water in the area. Psychologically, the players have to focus on the war in their home country every day, and it is very difficult for them to concentrate on this tournament."
