Palestinian Soccer Team Determined to Score Big. Palestinian soccer team determined to score big Aug. 23, 2002. 03:30 PM GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — The coach speaks only Polish, the team is broke and most players can't attend training sessions because of Israeli travel restrictions. Yet the ragtag Palestinian soccer team is determined to score big in its first international competition since Mideast fighting erupted two years ago — at next week's tournament among six Arab countries in Syria. Players say it's their way of keeping the tattered dream of independence alive. "I am not playing for myself. I am playing for the sake of my homeland," said midfielder Jamal al-Houli, 27, a father of three, who lives in a refugee camp. Palestinian fans hope the team will give them something to cheer about at a time when Israeli troops are deployed in most West Bank towns and have cut deep into the Gaza Strip, and statehood seems more distant than any time in years. "It would be a big present for the Palestinian people," Rajai Ayyash, a financial adviser in Jerusalem, said of a hoped-for strong showing of his team. In 1999, the Palestinian team unexpectedly won third place in the Arab Soccer Championships, setting off frenzied celebrations among soccer-crazed Palestinians — who even during an Israeli military offensive in June found a way to watch the World Cup. The man the Palestinians pin their hopes on is Andrzej Wisniewski, 47, a coach from Poland. Wisniewski, who once coached Polish champion Polonia Warsaw, speaks neither English nor Arabic. He was hired six months ago by the West Asian Football Foundation, which sponsors next week's cup, to help the Palestinian team. The Palestinian team has little money. Players don't get paid and, when not training, work full time as policemen, labourers or construction workers. During a recent training session at the Gaza City soccer stadium, the white-haired Wisniewski shouted orders at his 10 players in a jumble of English or Arabic phrases (``Shoot, Habibi," or "Shoot, guy!" and "Wakef," or "Stop") or longer tirades in Polish that a translator had trouble keeping up with. At times, the nimble Wisniewski, moving barefoot across the lawn, demonstrated techniques himself. The players said European-style soccer is faster, involving more passing and teamwork than what they are used to. In awe of their coach, they carried out his instructions without questions. So far, Wisniewski has met less than half his team, even though the competition starts Aug. 31. Eight players from the West Bank have been unable to come to Gaza, grounded by Israeli military curfews, and six live in other Arab countries. Over the weekend, all players are to meet in Syria for five days of joint training. Carefully avoiding politics, Wisniewski said life in Gaza is difficult, but that he is proud of his team. "I want to stay with the team because I think they are fantastic," he said, referring to the odds his players have to overcome. Just getting to training every day is a challenge. Al-Houli, the midfielder, lives in the Rafah refugee camp, 40 kilometres south of Gaza City, on the border with Egypt. The road from home to the training camp is lined with Israeli tanks and checkpoints. Earlier this week, he left home at 6 a.m. However, Israeli troops closed the road after a Hamas sniper killed an Israeli soldier, and Al-Houli was unable to get to Gaza City that day. The next day, he managed to get through on side roads, avoiding clashes in which a Palestinian teenager was killed. Two months ago, Israeli bulldozers levelled several dozen homes in Rafah to clear space between army positions and the camp. The three-storey home of Al-Houli was among the razed houses. The army said at the time it destroyed the houses to deprive gunmen of cover for shooting attacks on nearby military posts and to prevent militiamen from smuggling weapons in tunnels running under the homes. Al-Houli, a veteran of 30 international games, said he and his family ran from advancing bulldozers and were unable to take any belongings, including his most precious possession — the bronze medal his team won in 1999. The midfielder, who now lives in a rented house, said it's too dangerous to dig through the rubble because he might come under army fire. He hopes to replace the lost medal next week in Syria, where the Palestinians first face the host team, followed by a match against Iraq; Iran, Jordan and Lebanon are also competing. "I lost the medal, but this will not prevent me from trying to win a new one, perhaps even a better one," he said. Azim da Dream
That's messed up, but I guess we all know that already. Hope they do well, or at least are able to show.
