Palestine is the pride of Islame

Yashir Pinto was a promising Chilean footballer but a recent name change shows the pride in his Palestinian heritage.

Yashir Pinto during a loan stint with FC Edmonton in 2012. Picture: Getty Images

Changing his surname was a seminal moment for Yashir Islame.

Until six weeks ago, the Palestine forward was Yashir Pinto.

No surprise, either, given he was born and raised in Santiago to Chilean parents, and even seemed destined to play internationally for Chile.

A Colo-Colo academy product, a teenage Islame was one of the country’s brightest youth team prospects, even picked by Marcelo Bielsa to travel with the 2010 World Cup squad to South Africa, where he trained with Alexis Sanchez and company.

That was as close as it got to a senior breakthrough, and it wasn’t until several years later that Islame realised fate can work in mysterious ways.

The 27-year-old’s great-grandfather came from Palestine and, like up to half a million others in the country carrying the heritage, he’d always followed Club Deportivo Palestino, a top-tier club with an identity forged by Palestinian immigrants.

The line up for Aus in Asia cup

Palestine Football Association scouts were scouring the South American nation for talent and in 2015, while he was playing in Hungary, an official got in touch — via LinkedIn, no less.

“It’s very special when I change my federation to play for Palestine three years ago,” Islame said.

“It was the most important decision in my life … with the football you can make many people happy.

“My family has the culture from Chile but we follow the cause of Palestine.”

It’s a big part of why, in November, he officially changed his name to reflect what he says is his true identity.

Islame is far from Palestine’s only global recruit in recent years, and this Asian Cup squad is vastly different from the one that claimed no points and conceded 11 goals in their 2015 Asian Cup bow.

The line up for Uas in Asia cup

Then, the poor results against Iraq, Jordan and Japan were nowhere near as significant as the fact they’d actually happened. It was a chance to represent a strife-torn people still fighting to be recognised as a fully fledged nation.

Four years ago — 17 years after Palestine Football Association was recognised by FIFA — almost all the squad were native to Palestine and played in the West Bank Premier League, some dealing with the daily tribulations of Israeli-controlled movement between there and the Gaza Strip.

These days they draw from an extensive diaspora, even including four Israeli citizens, in a group more resembling a world team, though Gaza-born captain Abdelatif Bahdari remains a steady presence in defence.

It makes for an interesting dressing-room dynamic.

“We speak different languages,” said Islame, a close friend of former A-League player Marcos Flores. “For example, I don’t speak Arabic but many players in the team speak English and another speaks Spanish.

“We have one from Sweden, one from Slovenia, three from Chile, one from Argentina, USA, but when we are here we are one family.”

The external additions have brought a rise in professionalism, and this tournament there’s a strong sense they’ve qualified on merit. Last year, Palestine overtook Israel in the FIFA rankings and remained above them for several months, though have since slid nine places adrift in 99th.

Sunday’s opening scoreless draw with Syria has already proven they’ll be no pushovers, and there’s belief abound against an Australian side that Jordan have shown can be beaten.

The latest recruit is Nazmi Albadawi, a US native who only signed up two months ago. And only at the second time of asking, so afraid was his mother of what he might walk into if he travelled to the region.

Albadawi’s grandparents came from Tarshiha, and were among the estimated 700,000 or so who in 1948 fled or were driven from their homes in the area that became the state of Israel.

More than 40 years later, Albadawi’s parents, mother Raja and father Nidal, left Kuwait when Iraq invaded.

The 27-year-old FC Cincinnati midfielder was born a world away from all of it, raised among the thriving Palestinian community in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In November, he visited his family’s homeland for the first time to make his debut in a friendly against Pakistan in the occupied city of Al-Ram, coming off the bench to score the winner.

“My mum was very, very worried at first as I think most mums are, but then after I went and after how much I loved it and how well I did and everything — it was really safe, there was nothing to worry about, nothing really to fear,” he said. “Now her and my dad want to go too, they want to see it as well. They’re actually here, my mum almost started crying when she saw the Palestinian crowd at the first game because of all the passion and seeing all your people and everything. It means a lot to them as well.”