The family and friends of Palestinian football team captain Musab Al-Battat watch the team’s match against Qatar in the AFC Asian Cup from their home in the West Bank. Despite an exciting few minutes when the Palestinians went 1-0 up, they lost the game 2-1, but this was the first time they reached the knock-out stage of the tournament. “If we were not under occupation, his level would have been higher,” says Musab’s mother Hanaa, explaining that the team has difficulty travelling to train together given the restrictions in place throughout the Palestinian territories. The war in Gaza has inevitably had an effect on the team, with Hanaa saying that some team members have lost relatives and are not able to communicate with those still in the Gaza Strip. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES