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Dortmund Have No Time to Lament Chelsea Defeat as Ruhr Derby Awaits

06 March 2023, United Kingdom, London: Dortmund coach Edin Terzic attends a press conference at Stamford Bridge ahead of Tuesday's UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg match against Chelsea. (dpa)
06 March 2023, United Kingdom, London: Dortmund coach Edin Terzic attends a press conference at Stamford Bridge ahead of Tuesday's UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg match against Chelsea. (dpa)
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Dortmund Have No Time to Lament Chelsea Defeat as Ruhr Derby Awaits

06 March 2023, United Kingdom, London: Dortmund coach Edin Terzic attends a press conference at Stamford Bridge ahead of Tuesday's UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg match against Chelsea. (dpa)
06 March 2023, United Kingdom, London: Dortmund coach Edin Terzic attends a press conference at Stamford Bridge ahead of Tuesday's UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg match against Chelsea. (dpa)

Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic gave his players a night to digest their Champions League Round of 16 exit to Chelsea on Tuesday before picking themselves up for their Ruhr valley derby against bitter rivals Schalke 04 on Saturday.

Dortmund, who were on a 10-game winning run in all competitions in 2023 prior to Tuesday, lost 2-0 at Chelsea and were eliminated. They won 1-0 win in Germany in the first leg.

With the club joint top in the Bundesliga on 49 points with Bayern Munich, but in second place on goal difference, Terzic said there was no time to bewail the defeat to Chelsea for too long.

"We know we were in a good form (coming to Chelsea). But confidence and good form won't be enough," Terzic told reporters.

"Our season started in July and we said we want a good run in all three competitions. We dropped out of the Champions League against Chelsea. It is not something you have to feel ashamed for."

Apart from their fine Bundesliga run where they hunt their first league crown in 11 years, Dortmund are also through to the German Cup last eight where they face RB Leipzig in April.

"But don't get me wrong. Tonight we are really disappointed," Terzic said. "But tomorrow morning we are going to stand up, recover and go for the next one. It is a big derby for us on Saturday."

Few Dortmund fans would remember the Chelsea exit if there was silverware at the end of the season for their club, even fewer would if that included victory at local rivals Schalke over the weekend.

The Royal Blues are back after a season in the second division and after a disappointing start they have turned their season around in recent weeks.

Schalke are unbeaten in their last six league matches, having won the last two, and have climbed off last place to 19 points and into 17th place, level on points with Hoffenheim and VfB Stuttgart in 16th and 15th respectively.

They have also conceded just one goal in the six matches.

"At the end of May we will see what we deserve," Terzic said. "This is what we want to do. We don't want anything for granted but we will see at the end of May."

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A Penalty Shattered Palestinian World Cup Dreams for 2026. The Squad Has Inspired Hope 

Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Group B - Palestine v Oman - King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman, Jordan - June 10, 2025 Palestine's Oday Dabbagh in action with Oman's Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri. (Reuters) 
Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Group B - Palestine v Oman - King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman, Jordan - June 10, 2025 Palestine's Oday Dabbagh in action with Oman's Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri. (Reuters) 
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A Penalty Shattered Palestinian World Cup Dreams for 2026. The Squad Has Inspired Hope 

Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Group B - Palestine v Oman - King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman, Jordan - June 10, 2025 Palestine's Oday Dabbagh in action with Oman's Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri. (Reuters) 
Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Group B - Palestine v Oman - King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman, Jordan - June 10, 2025 Palestine's Oday Dabbagh in action with Oman's Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri. (Reuters) 

An engrossing qualifying journey of 16 games and the obstacles of a war came crashing down in an instant for Oday Dabbagh and his Palestinian team.

Their legacy will long continue.

Players left the field in tears in the immediate aftermath at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan, last Thursday after their quest for a first appearance at a World Cup evaporated on a contentious penalty awarded deep in extra time. Fans looked on, stunned.

"It's very hard," Dabbagh, the team's star striker, told The Associated Press. "It was massive for us to get to the next stage — we prepared well, we had a positive atmosphere, and we had the fans with us. We gave everything, but it was gone in a moment."

Needing to win its last three Group B games to reach the playoffs for the last two of Asia's automatic spots at the World Cup, the No. 101-ranked team in the world beat Iraq in Basra in March, Kuwait in Kuwait City on June 5. Five days later, it was leading 1-0 against Oman in Jordan in the 97th minute.

The Palestinians had never been in a better position in qualifying for a World Cup. Then Oman was awarded, and scored, a penalty to make it 1-1 in the last real act of the game.

Not long after the dejected players had picked themselves up, the Palestine Football Association (PFA) made an official complaint to soccer's world governing body, FIFA, about the penalty. It didn't change the fact, however, that the long road trip was over.

"We tried to put smiles on the faces of Palestinians amid their great pain," head coach Ihab Abujazar said. "The heroic players are our pride and glory, a symbol of all that is beautiful in the Palestinian nation."

Playing Away

It may have been different if the Palestinian team, admitted into FIFA in 1998, was able to play home games in front of its fans in Gaza or the West Bank in the third round of qualifying. The Israel-Hamas war meant that couldn't happen. And so, the many of the team's home games have been taking place in the nearby Jordanian capital of Amman, home to a large community of Palestinians.

"It is easier to play in your home," Dabbagh, who helped Aberdeen win the Scottish Cup last month, said. "But the circumstances there are so difficult so we choose to play in Amman as it is close to Palestine, the people are the same, and we have a lot of fans there."

There's been no domestic soccer in the Palestinian territories since the war started in 2023. Hundreds of athletes are among the more than 55,000 Palestinians killed in the conflict and sports facilities have been destroyed.

"Everything that goes on makes us all sad," Dabbagh said. "As players, we try to focus on football during the games, but we use what is happening as motivation to bring happiness to the people of Palestine."

All but two of the roster of 27 national squad players are contracted to foreign clubs either in the region or in Europe, a change from the start of the conflict when a number of players weren't able to leave the West Bank or Gaza to report for international duty.

Over the past year or so, the Palestinian squad has assembled for training camps in Algeria, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to prepare for World Cup qualifying.

The top two teams in each of three Asian groups in the third round earned direct spots for next year's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The third- and fourth-place teams in each group advanced to a playoff for two more places. A win would have secured fourth spot in the group for the Palestinians. The last-minute draw meant they finished a point behind Oman in fifth.

What's next? Now their focus has to shift to the 2027 Asian Cup, which will take place in Saudi Arabia. The Palestinian team has already qualified for the tournament.

Dabbagh is ready to show that the team is set to remain a force in Asian soccer and continue to be ambassadors for millions of people.

"We will keep using football as a message to show the world that there are other things in Palestine" he said. "We will keep going. The dream is not over, it is just delayed."