The Palestine national football team played a match in Faisal Husseini Stadium today against an elite Chechen side made up of players from Grozny who play in Russia’s elite league.

The local side equipped themselves well against the skilled visitors who include many top players in their ranks.

Before kick-off  Palestinian singer Ammar Hassan sang the national anthems of both teams in front of a very large crowd which included spectators, athletes, journalists and a number of news agencies. The Palestinian and Russian flags,  FIFA flag and Fair Play flags flew above the stadium. Major General Jibril Rajoub and the Chechen Minister for Sport were among the special guests.

The first half started aggressively with the local team’s Fahd  registering the first goal not long after kick-off. At 24 minutes the Chechens answered with an equaliser scored by Igor. Chechnya's second goal came from a professional with the Romanian team "Voltain".

Towards the end of the first half one of the Chechens was red-carded. This gave the locals an advantage and not long before the final whistle blew, Palestine equalled 2-2.

Following the exciting match gold and silver trophies were presented. The Palestinian team now dreams of travelling to Grozny to meet their opponents once more

By Muntaser Dkaidek

Palsport Newsagency