***Final Score:***
India 2-4 Palestine
Goals: Clifford Miranda (17′), Syed Rahim Nabi (40′) – Ashraf Nu’uman Alfawaghra (30′, 49′ PEN, 65′), Husam Abusalah (46′)
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kochi
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**Substitutions:
**60′ – Abdallatif Albahadri OFF; Nadim Baragtha ON (Palestine)
64′ – Lenny Rodriguez OFF; Arata Izunmi ON (India)
68′ – Alwyn Geroge OFF; Jewel Raja Sheikh ON (India)
76′ – Sunil Chhetri OFF; Manandeep Singh ON (India)
76′ – Francisco Fernandez OFF; Joaquim Abranchez ON (India)
78′ – Abdelhamid Abuhabib OFF; Abdelrahim Kabiya ON (Palestine)
79′ – Mosua Abu Jazar OFF; Mahmoud Salah ON (Palestine)
84′ – Clifford Miranda OFF; Vineeth CK ON (India)
87′ – Iyad Gharquod OFF; Khaled Salam ON (Palestine)
Live Commentary:
Referee blows the final whistle. India loses the match in the early 20 minutes of the second half!
90+2′ – Into the additional minutes, India not getting remotely close to the goal!
84′ – Vineeth coming on. Palestine holding on firm to a well deserved lead.
76′ – Double changes for India. Sunil Chhetri and Francisco Fernandez coming off. Manandeep and Joaquim Abranchez in.
73′ – Jewel Raja Sheikh’s volley from the edge of the area is wide!
66′ – GOAL! Palestine doubles the lead! Ashraf Nu’uman completes hattrick!! 4-2 to Palestine
64′ – Arata Izumi comes on to make his debut for the national team.
63′ – Nandy caught in an awkward position as the keeper advances off his line when Iyad Ghargoud has the possession. He gets round the keeper but waits and waits until he reaches an impossible angle to shot into an open goal!
60′ – Substitution: Abdallatif Albahadri OFF; Nadim Baragtha ON for Palestine!
57′ – Nabi’s header from the corner is off target.
56′ – Syed Rahim Nabi cuts inside and takes a shot, goal keeper conceded a corner
49′ -PENALTY!! A soft penalty conceded by the Indians. Ashraf steps into take it and scores. A complete turn around in 5 minutes. The visitors now ahead 3-2. Penalty conceded by Nabi.
46′ – GOAL!!!! Palestine with an instant reply as Husam Abusalah heads in to make it 2-2.
45′ – Second half underway
The turnout for the match is estimated to be around 25,000 to 30,000.
A slight drizzle pouring down at Kochi now.
45′ – It’s India in driver’s seat as the referee blows the whistle for half time. India 2-1 Palestine
40′ – GOAL! Syed Rahim Nabi gives back the lead to India with a header from Mehtab Hussain corner. India 2-1 Palestine.
35′ – Sunil Chhetri flagged offside.
33′ – Palestinians are looking the dangerous team now.
30′ – GOAL!! Palestine levels things up. Alfawaghra scores in from a shot from the box. India 1-1 Palestine
25′ – Free kick by Khader Hamid straight into the hands of Sandip Nandy
24′ – Palestine attacks on the counter. Alfawaghra breaks free of the Indian defence but Sandip Nandy advances to avert the danger.
22′ – Mexican wave going around the stadium!! Electrifying!
17′ – GOAL!!! Alwyn Geroge runs into the box and takes a shot. Albahadr into the way, but the ball falls for Clifford Miranda who bullets a rebound into the goal!!!
15′ – Corner kick India. Mehtab Hussain’s delivery is too close to the keeper who takes the catch.
13′ – Sunil Chhetri tries to play in Alwyn George but Palestine captain Albahdari intercepts
11′ – First corner of the game for India. Alwyn Geroge’s shot flies wide resulting from Clifford Miranada’s corner kick.
10′ – Alfawaghra finds Iyad Gharqoud inside the box. But his shot goes over.
9′ – Ashraf Alfawaghra taking on Indian defenders with ease.
8′ – Francisco Fernandez crosses in from the right, but is overhit.
4′ – Palestine’s Ashraf Alfawaghra looks dangerous with the ball inside the penalty area, but the Indian defence deals with it.
2′ – India awarded an early free kick off from the left. Mehtab Hussain takes it bu miscues it.
1′ – Match kicks off
Win Koevermans will present Syed Rahim Nabi with the AIFF Footballer of the Year 2012.
Now for the national anthem of Palestine and India
The teams are led to the pitch by a group of blind footballers from the city.
Indian national football team playing in Kerala after nine years and the football fanatics of Kerala have flocked into the stadium to witness the occasion.
We are 25 minutes away from kick off.
Kerala’s Vineeth CK and Pune FC’s Arata Izumi starts as substitutes. With the reception the crowd gave to the stadium announcement of Vineeth’s name, the large crowd will be disappointed if he does not feature this evening!
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi has created an electrifying atmosphere to welcome Indian and Palestine national teams to Kerala.
Starting Elevens:
**
Indian national football team:**
33. Sandip Nandy (Goalkeeper), 19. Gourmanghi Singh, 2. Denzil Franco, 3. Raju Gaikwad, 6. Lenny Rodriguez, 10. Fransisco Fernandez, 12. Mehtab Hussain, 15. Clifford Miranda, 22. Syed Rahim Nabi, 9. Alwyn George, 11. Sunil Chhetri (Captain)
Substitutes: 1. Subrata Pal, 25. Subasish Roy Chowdhary, 30. Manandeep Singh, 4. Nirmal Chhetri, 5. Souvik Ghosh, 7. Lalkamal Bhomwik, 28. Vineeth CK, 26. Arata Izumi, 14. Gurjinder Kumar
Head Coach: Wim Koevermans
Palestine national football team:
16. Mohammed AM Shabir (Goalkeeper), 2. Raed MK Fares, 3. Khaled AK Mahdi, 5. Abdallatif Albahdari (Captain), 6. Mousa MH Abujazar, 7. Ashraf Nu’uman Alfawaghra, 9. Iyad AS Gharquod, 10. Abdulhamid Abuhabib, 13. Husam Abusalah, 14. Mali JH Kaware, 21. Khader YA Abuhammed
Substitutes: 1. Tawfiq AY Abuhammad, 11. Kaled Salem, 12. Ahamed Salama, 15. Nadim Baragtha, 17. Abdalrahim Kabiya, 24. Mahmoud Shaikhqasem
Head Coach: Jamal Mahmoud Abed
Referee: Arumughan Rowan
Assistant referees: Cheruvathur Kurian Shaji, Mohammed Kamil
Fourth Official: MB Santosh Kumar
Match Commissioner: J Ravishankar
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Tuesday 5 February 2013. The database copy of this article was lost; it was recovered in 2026 from the Internet Archive's saved copy of the live page.