Over the years, Yousef Abu Hammad’s 12 sons have formed the core of what is now the top-ranked team in the West Bank. All photos by Dusan Vranic / AP Photo
Updated: February 12, 2014, 12:00 AM
In pictures: Palestinian man has enough sons for football team
Wadi Al Nees are top of the West Bank’s 12-team Premier League consistently defeating richer clubs and believe their strong family bonds are a secret to their success.
Players pray during half time.
Wadi Al Nees get ready to play. There’s little to do in the village except play football. It is perched on a hilltop just south of Bethlehem and has only about 950 residents, almost all members of the Abu Hammad clan. Until the late 1980s, Wadi Al Nees had no running water or electricity.
“Being a family team is a big advantage,” said son Fadi Abu Hammad, 22. “The players will do their best for the reputation of the club and the reputation of the family, too.”
Abu Hammad’s family members pose with the Yasser Arafat Cup. Despite the lack of facilities, Wadi Al Nees has defeated bigger clubs that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy players. The top league is professional and all players draw salaries, including those from Wadi Al Nees.
Any defeat is hard to take for Wadi Al Nees, which has collected a cupboard full of trophies, including as league champions in 2008 and 2009 and winners of various local tournaments.
The secretary-general of the Palestine Football Association, Abdel Majed Hejeh, said the village team is the best of a total of 79 in the West Bank and 53 in Gaza. “The players are very loyal,” he said. “They even resist attempts by other teams to attract them.”