While the biggest concern for most national team coaches often involves injuries to star players, Palestine coach Izzat Hamzeh worries about more basic problems, like assembling enough players for a team. Negotiating players' exits from Gaza and the West Bank makes this feat difficult, especially for away matches.
On Tuesday, Hamzeh managed to gather a squad of 16 players, instead of the normal 22, with 24 hours to spare before Wednesday's friendly against FC Brussels. "This is one of our major victories, that under all these circumstances we still manage to operate," he said Tuesday. The match will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations UNRWA agency for Palestinian refugees.
Seven players from the Gaza Strip needed three days to get into Belgium, held up by Israeli checkpoints and administrative burdens to get travel permits. Often travel doesn't go so smoothly. Palestine missed a World Cup qualifier in Singapore in late 2007 because of Israeli travel restrictions.