The Palestinian club of Hilal Al-Quds has seen better days.
Players are running without a proper salary since the beginning of 2020; the team has no sponsor on the shirt; the coronavirus encouraged an exodus of notable teammates as Abdallah Jaber, Rami Hamadeh and Hamode Samer; and general uncertainty about the near future. In short: administrative chaos.
It did not interrupt the team to win 6-1 (!) in the opening matchday against Taraji Wad al-Nes with the lineup based mostly on homegrown talents and the Palestine national team defensive midfielder, Mahmoud Darweesh.
Taraji Wad al-Nes v Hilal al-Quds, Match Summary:
Although both teams are more closed to Jerusalem area, the match took place in Dura Stadium, at Southern mount Hebron.
Taraji scored first through Jihad Saqer Abuhammad after just six minutes, but from there the Jerusalemites took over.
First, Mohammed Abu Mayaleh equalised the result (‘22), and teams went down to the locker rooms in 1:1 at the half time.
In the second half, the avalanche started. Mohammed Abeid (‘50), Ihab Shahin (‘62), Abu Mayaleh added another one (‘79) and Sari Jadallah, with a brace of his own (‘85, ‘90), completed a tremendous performance for the runner-ups last season.
2020/21 season in the West Bank will be an interesting one. There is less money than before, but it will be time for the local young talents to prevail, just like what Hilal Al-Quds, the Lions of the Capital, has shown in the first matchday.
Photo via Instagram.
