The Palestinian national team will host its Egyptian counterpart for a friendly match in Jerusalem's Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium on August 8, 2010. This was decided during a meeting between the Palestinian FA chairman Brigadier-General Jibril Rajoub and his Egyptian counterpart Samir Zaher that was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. Initially a match between the sides was set to take place on March 30 in Jerusalem, but the Egyptian side cancelled its participation after it triggered controversy and drew comparisons with a normalisation of ties with Israel. After Rajoub complained about the issue to the Arab League, Zaher sent a letter of apologise and pledged to set another date for the match. Now the announcement of the match has come together with the announcement of Jerusalem as the capital of Arab sport for the year 2011. The Egyptian team and its players are hugely supported across the Palestinian territories. It is expected that all of the Egyptian stars will show up to the game, including talismanic playmaker Mohamed Abou Treika who is one of the most popular figures in Arab football history. This will be Palestine's second home match in Al- Husseini stadium against an Arab nation after it hosted Jordan on October 28, 2008 for a grand opening of the national Stadium.
