Tamer Seyam (right) hopes Palestine to give a good performance against Qatar in their last 16 match at Al Bayt Stadium tonight.
Doha, Qatar: Tamer Seyam believes that the current iteration of Palestine under the guidance of Makram Daboub is the key to the team’s historic qualification to the knockout stage of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023.
The Prachuap FC forward is enjoying playing under the Tunisian tactician, scoring in the opening Group C match against Iran.
Five years ago, Palestine lost all three of their matches at the AFC Asian Cup but Qatar 2023 has so far seen them register a first ever win (3-0 v Hong Kong, China) and a draw (1-1 v United Arab Emirates).
“Of course I’m thankful that I was able to score but it’s not my own effort, also the coach and teammates,” said Seyam.
“Every coach has different tactics. In the past we played a defensive style, under the current coach we are playing a different style as you can see from our match in the World Cup qualifier against Australia.
“It’s the effort of the coach and tactics he used. It’s down to a lot of training and exercise. The Palestinian achievement is not only in terms of goals but also the performance and so far you can see that from our group matches.”
Having helped Palestine reach new heights at this edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the 31-year-old does not feel their journey has reached its conclusion yet even though reigning champions Qatar stand in their way of a place in the quarter-finals.
“All the players understand the importance of this competition. This is our third participation and the majority of the players have the experience from the last edition.”
“We have made a historic achievement by qualifying for the Round of 16 but it’s not the end yet, the players will enter this match with full preparedness and we will try to get a positive result for Palestine.
“The pressure on the players is huge. We have seen very good support from all fans, this is an honour for us and we appreciate that. We hope tomorrow we can show a good performance.”
