- Palestine know victory over Arab rivals will see them through to the second round.
- Noureddine Ould Ali tells players to give their all.
LONDON: Noureddine Ould Ali has told his Palestine players to leave nothing behind when they face Jordan today.
Having drawn 0-0 with Syria and then lost 3-0 to Australia the Palestinians know that only victory will guarantee them a place in the second round. And with that in mind Ali wants his side to give their all in Abu Dhabi.
“Our objective is simply to win the game, qualify for the knockout phase and make the Palestinian people happy,” he said.
“We will be playing against Jordan as if it is a final. We spoke to the players after the game against Australia, and they are now ready and willing to sacrifice everything in order to qualify – something which would be very historic.
“Jordan are a strong team. We have watched their previous games and how they play. However, it is my team’s duty to be ready for every possibility. It is up to us to make the difference, it up to us to qualify.”
With two victories from two Jordan have already made it to the knockout stages. But Vital Borkelmans insisted he was focused only on the 90 minutes against the Palestinians.
“I never look further than the next match. What comes after that we will see,” the Belgian coach said.
“It is (currently) important that my team plays well against Palestine, and that we try to perform to the very best of our ability and, in the process, create plenty of chances. We must play as we did against Australia and Syria to show people that we are ready for the Round of 16.
“We are hoping to achieve a good result for our amazing fans, although I have to change some players, and it will be a case of utilising all 23 squad members.”