As war rages, Palestine are somehow fielding a team at the Asian Cup

They were already winners before a ball had even been kicked. That does sound strange.

Winning is paramount in sport, always has been. As the band Queen warn: ‘No time for losers’. The pain of losing is raw. It hurts. It lingers.

Yet for Palestine, the human losses in recent months made fielding a team here at the Education City Stadium a win in itself.

It didn’t matter that they had not won in eight previous fixtures, their last victory a 2-1 triumph over Bahrain in March last year.

It was that this team were able to yesterday play while bombs continue to bombard loved ones in Gaza since Hamas’ horrific October 7 attack on Israel.

Facing Iran, who are ranked No21 in the world, only behind Japan in this tournament, the task ahead was always going to be steep. Conceding two goals in 15 minutes said as much.

In the stands, the many supporters donning keffiyehs around their necks — a black and white chequered piece of cloth — could not care a jot. And rightly so, as the green, red, black and white flags waved and waved, a stall on the stadium concourse giving them out for free.

You see, this was their 90 minutes of escapism. Initially, it felt rather abnormal turning to my left and right to witness flags being raised and claps aplenty whilst goals were being leaked regularly.

But then again, the wider circumstance was different from a typical match.

The news of death around these parts is no surprise, as reflected when striker Mahmoud Wadi slowly ambled over to Mail Sport before their training session on Saturday after receiving a phone call from back home.

‘My cousin was killed today,’ he told Mail Sport. ‘Thirty minutes ago I heard this.

‘It is difficult to say how I feel now. Three days ago, I couldn’t contact my family but