Ahead of Tuesday's Group C action at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, Palestine knew they had a lot to do (and then wait) if they were to be sure to make history by advancing out of the group stage for the first time in their history .
They needed to beat Hong Kong, hope for Iran's triumph over the United Arab Emirates and, in the process, erase a five-goal deficit between them and the Emiratis.
In the end, they fell short in that regard.
However, despite all the effort and courage they showed, they were rewarded in the end.
With two goals from Oday Dabbagh and one from Zaid Qunbar, they held up their end of the bargain with a dominant 3-0 win over Hong Kong and initially it looked like the original scenario was somehow going to end with Iran leading the UAE by two goals.
But a goal from Yahya Al-Ghassani in the 93rd minute meant the Iranians could only claim a 2-1 victory.
With the United Arab Emirates and Palestine tied on four points and having drawn their own match (nullifying the head-to-head record as a tie-breaker), the former would finish in second place ahead of the latter by a goal difference of just one. strike.
Originally, the Palestinians would have faced a nervous wait to find out whether they would advance as one of the four best-performing third-place finishers.
However, with Groups A and B already concluded, and with Syria and China lower in the team standings in third place, Palestine's progress was confirmed.
In the end, they had their own sense of adventure to thank, given the way they consistently looked to score more and more against Hong Kong.
A simple victory was not enough for them. They knew they had to give themselves the best chance and so they did.
With Palestine and Syria on four points (and China out of the equation with just two), the fact that the former had scored five goals ensured that there would be at least two teams below them, with the Syrians on just one goal. to their names.
It turned out to be an evening of real drama, as at times it seemed that fate would not be on Palestine's side, although they also took advantage of their luck quite a bit.
Iran had two goals disallowed following a VAR review, which would have given them a much larger margin of victory than they had with a Mehdi Taremi double, and would have guaranteed second place for the Palestinians.
However, it seemed certain that Palestine would concede a goal against Hong Kong in stoppage time of their own match, but Everton Camargo hit the crossbar with a penalty and inadvertently preserved a three-goal win for the West Asian side .
Ultimately, perhaps it was a case of fortune favoring the brave.
Palestine, who made their Asian Cup debut in 2015, are now in the knockout round for the first time in three attempts, and they certainly did it because they really tried.
Regardless of what they achieve from now on, the 2023 edition of the Asian Cup will always be unforgettable for them.
