The Palestinian football team is set to play its first game of the Asian Cup against the backdrop of an Israeli assault that has hampered its preparations for the tournament.

The Palestinian side faces Iran in its opening game of the tournament today, Al Jazeera reports.

Palestinian captain Musab Battat said the team was “raring to go” and expressed confidence about its prospects against three-time champions Iran despite a lack of games in the run-up to the competition.

“There has been very little football activity in Palestine for three months since the start of the war and this impacted us negatively but we played friendlies abroad and qualifiers,” Battat was reported as saying by the Associated Press.

“We want to put in good performances and get good results for our fans.”