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Palestinians Face One of Asia's Toughest Soccer Tests to Start the 3rd Round of World Cup Qualifying

FILE -Palestinian team stand for the national anthem ahead of the Asian Cup Group C soccer match between Iran and Palestine at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, Jan. 14, 2024.Aijaz Rahi - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE -Palestinian team stand for the national anthem ahead of the Asian Cup Group C soccer match between Iran and Palestine at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, Jan. 14, 2024.Aijaz Rahi - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Palestinians Face One of Asia's Toughest Soccer Tests to Start the 3rd Round of World Cup Qualifying

FILE -Palestinian team stand for the national anthem ahead of the Asian Cup Group C soccer match between Iran and Palestine at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, Jan. 14, 2024.Aijaz Rahi - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE -Palestinian team stand for the national anthem ahead of the Asian Cup Group C soccer match between Iran and Palestine at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, Jan. 14, 2024.Aijaz Rahi - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Palestinian team is closer to the World Cup than ever after reaching the third round of qualifying in Asia as one of the top 18 on the continent.
The next phase starts with one of the toughest possible soccer assignments in Asia, with the Palestinians taking on South Korea in front of 66,000 fans in Seoul on Thursday. The South Koreans have qualified for the past 10 World Cup tournaments, and were semifinalists in 2002.
The top two from each of the three groups in this Asian qualifier will claim six of the eight spots allocated to the Asian Football Confederation at the 2026 World Cup. The teams that finish third and fourth will go into a fourth round to compete for two more spots.
“Our goal is to be among the first four teams in the group, and we are capable of that,” Makram Daboub, head coach of the Palestinian team, told The Associated Press. “I'm very happy to have reached this important stage, and I am very proud of the players, and it is the result of teamwork."
Facing South Korea and English Premier League talent such as Son Heung-min is a different challenge for the team ranked No. 96 in the world.
“Son is a very excellent player, but we are playing against the Korean national team and he also has other good players, so our focus is more on the group and playing with the best teams in Asia,” Daboub said.
The other teams in Group B include Iraq, Jordan, Oman and Kuwait.
The Palestinians spent time in Malaysia preparing for their opening match and will return to Kuala Lumpur for next week's game against Jordan.
Daboub's squad is familiar with playing on the road.
The Palestinian team progressed through the second round of continental qualifying for the first time in its history in June but, because of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, staged its “home” games in nearby Kuwait and Qatar.
Israel launched a major offensive in Gaza in response to an Oct. 7 Hamas attack into southern Israel in which around 1,200 people were killed and another 250 people were abducted.
The war is now in its 11th month and has killed more than 40,000 people, according to Gaza health officials.
“The situation is getting more difficult in all aspects,” Daboub said. “What worries me most is, in addition to the psychological aspect as a result of the situation, there is also the physical condition of the players, because most of them are without clubs.”
The game in Seoul is the first for Hong Myung-bo in his second spell as head coach of the South Korean team.
“I think the match is important for the national team, not for me personally,” Hong, who resigned after the 2014 tournament in Brazil, said. “This is World Cup qualification.”
The toughest qualifying group in Asia is Group C, which contains Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia.
Japan, which opens at home against China, has 20 Europe-based players on its roster and is Asia’s highest-ranked team at No. 18.
Australia and Saudi Arabia are each aiming for their seventh World Cup appearance.
“We need to focus on our job, get that job done, because it’s important. Phase two is over and phase three is beginning,” Socceroos coach Graham Arnold said ahead of Australia's opening game against Bahrain. “Everyone starts on zero points, zero goals for and against, and it all starts from now.”
In Group A, Iran is expected to qualify for a fourth successive World Cup and 2022 host Qatar is aiming to advance through qualifying for the first time. Qatar opens against United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan hosts North Korea.

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Emiliano Martínez: ‘Show-off? I Just Want to Win the Game'

Emiliano Martínez wants to win a trophy with Aston Villa and is striving to be the best goalkeeper in the world. Photograph: Matt Impey/Shutterstock via The Guardian Sport
Emiliano Martínez wants to win a trophy with Aston Villa and is striving to be the best goalkeeper in the world. Photograph: Matt Impey/Shutterstock via The Guardian Sport
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Emiliano Martínez: ‘Show-off? I Just Want to Win the Game'

Emiliano Martínez wants to win a trophy with Aston Villa and is striving to be the best goalkeeper in the world. Photograph: Matt Impey/Shutterstock via The Guardian Sport
Emiliano Martínez wants to win a trophy with Aston Villa and is striving to be the best goalkeeper in the world. Photograph: Matt Impey/Shutterstock via The Guardian Sport

Owing to superstition, before the season started Emiliano Martínez traded his No 1 shirt for the No 23. The number – a nod to the day his six-year-old son, Santi, was born – has proved a good omen, Martínez says, given he has won four trophies with Argentina, including a second Copa América this summer, wearing it.

Another superstition has been in play since his wife, Mandinha, gave him a pair of cuddly toy animals before the World Cup; Santi’s penguin and the giraffe of their three-year-old daughter, Ava, to carry as mascots in the dressing room, alongside a photo of his children. “I keep them with me everywhere I go,” says Martínez, whose shin pads are covered in images of his family and moments from his career. “It gives me a little bit of motivation before every game. She [Mandinha] said: ‘You are going to bring the golden cup home.’ I was 40 days away from the family, and I did it.”
For a split-second, the thought of Martínez checking he has a couple of cuddly toys in tow as part of his match-day ritual jars with his on-pitch persona, his image as – how else to say this? – the master of shithousery, often making himself public enemy No 1 in the process. At least that is the preconception many have of him. Martínez’s greatest moment was surely his sprawling save in the final seconds of extra time to deny Randal Kolo Muani and France victory in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar. Then came his stop in the penalty shootout to thwart Kingsley Coman and the mind games to distract Aurélien Tchouaméni, who subsequently missed.

Martínez insists any dark arts are not preordained. “I think it’s natural,” he says. “I don’t think about it, I just do it. It’s in the moment. It’s something that can happen, the adrenaline kicks in and sometimes you just can’t control it. I don’t look for it, it just comes. Sometimes when you see me from the outside, you think: ‘He looks a show-off.’ But no, I’m just a normal guy, a family man. But when it is about winning I try everything I can to win the game.”

Does Martínez feel misunderstood? “Yeah, exactly ... [people who think of me being] the show-off are probably the team who doesn’t know me. When you ask all of my teammates, those in the national team, I do everything for my team, I try to help everyone in the club. The only thing that I want is the best for my club and country. That is all that I care about.”

In other words, the 31-year‑old unapologetically wants to win at all costs, though it is hard to keep a straight face when he insists he never intends to irk supporters. Jamie Vardy, who goaded Tottenham fans on Monday by pointing to the Premier League crest on his shirt, certainly enjoys a little bit of give-and-take with those in the stands. “Everyone has their own things,” Martínez says. “I never try to wind up fans, I never do that. I just try to slow things down when the game is against us; I try to kick the ball as hard as I can to the other side.

“But if you keep yourself steady and you don’t insult anyone, any religion ... I think you can do whatever you want. I don’t swear, I don’t insult anyone. I just try to help my team – that’s all. I always respect the players. I just want to win the game. I don’t cross a line, I never do.”

After making two saves in a Copa América shootout win against Ecuador in July, Martínez again celebrated by exhibiting his snaking hips. It was a similar story in Lille, in Aston Villa’s Europa Conference League quarter-final, in which he was booked twice, the second for gamesmanship during a shootout win but survived a red card owing to the small print in the Uefa rulebook. “I thought I was off,” Martínez admits, raising a smile. “I think everyone in football thought that. I was actually asking the ballboy: ‘Can you please give me the ball?’ Then I was booked for that. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. So I was lucky. Because of that I missed the semi-final at home [to Olympiakos] in front of the fans, so after all that it was disappointing.”

As Martínez talks, speaking after announcing his new contract until 2029 in front of his family and 400 season-ticket holders at Villa’s revamped club shop, his son, wearing a replica kit, arches his back into him and every now and then Ava taps him with a pair of goalie gloves. “Daddy, daddy,” she says, as Martínez discusses the merits of his longtime psychologist, David Priestley, whom he first worked with at Arsenal, Villa’s opponents on Saturday. “He brings me down when I’m too high, he lifts me when I’m too low, and I think that is someone every player needs,” says Martínez, who turns 32 next month. “It is an investment, time in the week that I have to work with him. If you see my performances, I’m never 10 [out of 10], but I’m never four. I’m trying to always be a seven.”

Villa, whose supporters chant about Martínez being the world’s best goalkeeper, would dispute those ratings of his performances. A few minutes earlier, Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo, better known as Monchi, Villa’s highly regarded president of football operations who was a goalkeeper for Sevilla in his playing days, insisted Martínez should be spoken of in the same breath as legends such as Lev Yashin, Gianluigi Buffon, Dino Zoff and Ubaldo Fillol, a World Cup winner with Argentina in 1978. Martínez, who won his third golden glove with Argentina this summer, was awarded the Yashin Trophy at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris last year.
Martínez’s point-blank save to deny Leandro Trossard in a striking victory at Arsenal towards the end of last season sticks in the memory before the clubs meet again at Villa Park. Villa did the double over Arsenal last season, severely denting their opponents’ title hopes. Martínez feels “it is just another game” against his former club and “there is no way we can challenge for the title”, but is confident Villa can shock in Europe this season. “Especially with the manager we have got,” he says of Unai Emery. “He was in the semi‑final of the Champions League with Villarreal [in 2021-22]. He has won four Europa Leagues ... for Villa, it being our first time in the Champions League, it is going to be new for us, but when you have a manager and players like we have you can go all of the way.”

Martínez exerts self-confidence but is also self-critical. “Last season I wasn’t happy with myself with nine clean sheets [in the league]. Javi [García, Villa’s goalkeeping coach] showed me the stats ... I prevented goals, did more sweeping, took more crosses, but I want to the win the golden glove at Villa.

“I have changed a lot since Unai came here. Javi and Unai made me more like a centre‑back player, covering defence, sweeping. We conceded a lot of goals [last season]. If we can reduce the amount of goals we are conceding, I think we have got more chance of being in the top four and winning a trophy, something that has been missing.”

Martínez worked with “mad man” García at Arsenal under Emery and could have reunited with the pair at Villarreal in the summer of 2020, but picked Villa. While at Arsenal he was loaned to Oxford in League Two and Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham, Wolves and Reading in the Championship, as well as Getafe in La Liga. He impressed at Arsenal but was unable to establish himself as the first-choice goalkeeper under Mikel Arteta. “I play more games now, so I’m more experienced. I’m a dad,” he says. “When I was at Arsenal I was a young lad, learning the language, learning the English life. I am a completely different person now.”

As for those superstitions, they do not stop at one or two. “Aaah, I’ve got loads,” Martínez says. “I keep my same routine: I make sure I do pilates, yoga two days before, I pray before the games, have psychologist meetings.” His shirt‑number swap is already paying off, he says, alluding to Villa’s opening-day victory at West Ham, his first there since joining the club for £20m.

Martínez’s final two appearances for Arsenal both came at Wembley, an FA Cup win over Chelsea followed by a Community Shield shootout triumph over Liverpool, and now he is targeting silverware with Villa. “I’m speaking loudly in training saying: ‘We need to win a trophy, we need to at least play a final,’” Martínez says. “This club and these fans deserve a cup run. I love it here, obviously, but I wouldn’t stay at a club where I don’t see progress. Because I want to achieve things, I want to win things, I want to keep trying to be the best goalie in the world if I can.”

-The Guardian Sport