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A home advantage was never something the Palestinian national football team could count on, given that even their home games were played away.
Yesterday's international friendly against Jordan in a West Bank stadium changed all that, and while the boost from their first outing on home soil might not have been reflected in the final scoreline, it was writ large on the faces of Palestinian players and fans.
"When you are playing here, in front of your own people, in your land it makes a huge difference," the stand-in captain Ayman Hindi said before kick-off. "We will play better."
For a nation whose statehood drive is stalling amid apparently fruitless peace negotiations with Israel and an internal split between its two main political groups - Fatah and Hamas - hosting the match was something to cheer about.
"Our national team, in our stadium, means we exist no less than any other nation in the world," said Mohammed Suhsa, a 45-year old mechanic who was in the 6500-strong crowd, with his 11-year-old son, Mustafa.
Forming a circle and momentarily praying on the pitch in their white and green strip, the Palestinian national football team briefly injected a degree of normality and hope into morose Palestinian life by doing what in any other country would seem routine.
"Filastin [Palestine], Filastin, Filastin", roared the crowd after Ahmed Kashkash's 10th-minute goal edged the home side in front. "God willing, another one," they chanted.
It was not to be - the team is ranked 180 out of 207 by Fifa, after all - and Jordan equalised for a 1-1 draw.
The much-anticipated fixture marked the end of years of athletic homelessness. The Palestinian national team's matches had until now been played in Jordan or the Gulf because no home stadium met Fifa standards.
And training was in Egypt because the team was split between the West Bank and Gaza, and Israeli restrictions made it difficult to gather in either part of their fragmented homeland.
The venue for yesterday's match was a newly refurbished stadium, on the edge of the east Jerusalem area the Palestinian Authority envisions as the capital of a future state. Fifa had stumped up some of the cash for the US$4 million ($7.2 million) renovation.
But reminders of the tense political situation hovered over the celebrations.
Metres from the stadium lies the separation barrier Israel has erected ostensibly to keep out suicide bombers. And although Israeli authorities let 11 players travel from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank, captain Saeb Jundiya was barred from leaving the Strip, with the Israelis citing "security concerns".
The West Bank Government affiliated to President Mahmoud Abbas, and the chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, Jibril Rajoub, had worked hard to bring football home. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, termed the hosting of Jordan "a good step".
- INDEPENDENT
