Palestine vs New Zealand

Palestine and New Zealand served up a frantic, goal-laden friendly in Chongqing, China, with all four goals arriving inside the first 40 minutes before both sides eased off after the break. It marked the first-ever meeting between the two nations, and neither could find a winner in a game that swung twice. Ben Waine put the All Whites ahead inside five minutes, only for Assad Al-Hamlawi to head home from a corner scramble in the 25th minute to level things up. Jesse Randall restored New Zealand's lead on the counter-attack in the 35th minute, but Oday Dabbagh struck right on the stroke of halftime to make it 2-2. No cards or penalties were shown, and a wave of substitutions from both benches slowed the second half to a crawl. For New Zealand, the draw is a useful workout before a tighter turnaround against China and a step up in competition at the Kirin Cup. Palestine, meanwhile, will take confidence from twice clawing back parity as they turn to a busy stretch of fixtures against Turkmenistan and Tajikistan in the coming days.