Palestinian resilience earns South Korea captain's praise

South Korea captain Son Heung-min praised the resilience of the Palestinian team after the Tottenham Hotspur forward earned his side a point in a 1-1 draw with the war-hit outfit in Amman on Tuesday in the third phase of Asia's World Cup preliminaries.

Son levelled the scores in the 16th minute after Zeid Qunbar gave the Palestinians a shock early lead, pouncing on an under-hit back-pass by Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae.

The Palestinians frustrated the Koreans with a 0-0 draw in their previous qualifier in Seoul in September, as Makram Daboub's side continue to perform under the shadow of the Israel-Hamas conflict, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives in Gaza since last October.

"I'd like to applaud them," Son said of the Palestinians, who were forced to play in neutral Amman due to the ongoing security situation.

"I think they were really well prepared despite being in such a difficult situation and they executed their plans really well.

"I think that's something we can learn from them. I am disappointed that we didn't win and hopefully, we will play better next year."

The draw ended South Korea's run of four straight wins in qualifying but Hong Myung-bo's side remain on track to progress to the World Cup finals with a three-point lead over second-placed Iraq in Group B.

The Palestinian team is bottom of the group.

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