Palestine beats Taiwan in Peace Cup battle for third

MANILA, Philippines - Ahmed Wridat anchored the attack as Asian Cup-bound Palestine sizzled with four goals in extra time to salvage a 7-3 victory over Chinese Taipei and cop the bronze medal in the PFF Peace Cup yesterday at Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Wridat fired four goals, spiked by three in extra time, as the Palestinians stole the win and consoled themselves with third place in the short, four-nation tournament.

The Phlippine Azkals and Myanmar were disputing the gold medal at presstime with the home side gunning for a three-peat.

Chinese Taipei took a 3-2 lead on an 87th minute connection by Lin Chang Lun but Palestine dug deep into its well of willpower to turn the tables around and avert a disastrous loss.

Abdulhamid Abuhahbib scored in the second minute of stoppage time to level the count and force the extra period.

Wridat took charge from there, putting Palestine ahead, 4-3, before teammate Abdullatif Albahdari made it a two-goal margin. Wridat put the finishing touches to the victory with two more goals.

“When the score was tied at 3, I changed tactics and made some substitutions. We played better than before. It is good for our morale but we have many mistakes,” said Palestine coach Jamal Mahboud.

Palestine came in with little preparation due to the situation at home. After the Peace Cup, the reigning AFC Challenge Cup titlists will play India, Thailand, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and China in a series of international friendlies as part of their buildup for the Asian Cup.