Al Ram, West Bank - The Palestinian national football team
kicked off its first international match on home soil on Sunday,
drawing with Jordan at a newly inaugurated pitch in the West Bank.
Each team scored one goal, with the Palestinian striking first,
about six minutes into the game.
Ahmed Kashkash of the home team scored before an already excited
crowd waving large and small Palestinian flags and threw white
confetti into the air and onto the pitch.
The new stadium was packed with exuberant fans who had been
waiting many years for this opportunity.
The stadium in the neighborhood of Al Ram, outside Ramallah, was
built in part with funds from world football's governing body FIFA.
Another pitch in the Gaza Strip, the official home of the
Palestinian team, was also being fixed up, but since 2006, nearly all
development work in the enclave has been brought to a halt, due to
donor pullouts after the Islamic Hamas' election victory that year
and violent takeover of the coastal salient in 2007.
Until the Ram stadium was built, the Palestinian squad played its
'home games' in Arab countries, including Jordan and Qatar. Palestine
has been a FIFA member since 1998.
The word 'historic' was used by officials and fans alike to
describe the game.
Large crowds of fans unable to get seats at the game had gathered
nearby to watch it on large screens.
FIFA President Joseph Blatter attended the match and sat next
to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the stands. He arrived
earlier in the day from Jordan.
The game kicked off after many photo-ops and tours around the
pitch by Palestinian leaders, foreign visitors including Blatter, and
following the playing of the Palestinian and Jordanian national
anthems.
The Jordanian team, wearing bright red uniforms, scored shortly
after the second half to tie the game at 1-1, which is how it
remained at the end of playing time.
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