NABLUS: In the team’s dressing room, Khalid Sarhan is preparing to enter the football stadium.
He stands in front of the mirror and wears the captain badge on his arm, refusing assistance from teammates.
But until May 5, Sarhan’s friend Saeed Odeh used to put the captain’s badge on him before every match they played for the Pele Sports Football Academy in Nablus, a city in the northern West Bank.
But a telephone call from a friend turned his life upside down.
“During the evening hours, a friend called me and said: ‘Aren’t you Saeed’s friend?’ When I said ‘yes,’ he said ‘your friend was killed by the army on his way to the pool,’” Sarhan told Anadolu Agency with a heavy heart.
He did not believe the news and almost lost consciousness until his father confirmed that his friend had in fact been killed.
In the afternoon of that fateful day, Odeh was headed to a pool near his village of Odala with his friends. On their way, they were caught in the crossfire.
Odeh was injured by a live bullet to his chest by Israeli army. He tried to escape to an olive field, but fell because he lost a lot of blood.
“When he was between the trees, the soldiers shot him again. The bullet penetrated his shoulder and exploded in his chest,” according to Jihad Nassar, Odeh’s football coach.
An ambulance was denied access to the field, although Odeh was in critical condition. The Israel Defense Forces often deny help to injured Palestinians.
Hours later, the army allowed the ambulance to enter the field.
The ambulance officer was Fayez Abd Al-Jabar, Odeh’s uncle.
It was a shock for Al-Jabar when he found Odeh bleeding on the ground. He tried to save his nephew’s life along with the medical staff at the Rafedeah hospital, but Odeh succumbed to his wounds soon after arriving at the facility.
“We got the news from Facebook, but we didn’t believe it. We kept thinking there was a mistake in the name until we arrived at the hospital, and even as we saw him we didn’t believe he was gone,” said Nassar.
Despite months having been passed, Odeh’s coach and team are still in shock.
“He was very friendly, and at the same time very sharp when it came to the origins of play. He tried to do his best,” said Nassar, who first met Odeh at the academy where he used to come with his uncle. “He was quick-tempered, but also used to apologize without hesitation.”
Nassar soon took the 16-year-old under his wing, who wanted to be in Germany this summer to visit the academy’s headquarters. But life has its own plans.
“Saeed was a talented midfielder, and played with enthusiasm and high energy. He was creative in his position, and because of his excessive activity his arm was broken several times,” the coach said.
But he did not live to see his team play at a tournament in Sharm El-Sheikh this June.
The day the team left for Egypt, they prayed for Odeh at his grave. “We printed his photo on our jerseys. He is with us all the time,” said Sarhan.
He recalled his friendship that began six years ago on the grounds of football stadiums, saying: “We spent days and nights together. His loss is very painful. He was full of life.”
After Odeh’s death, Sarhan decided to quit the game, but his parents encouraged him to continue for the sake of his beloved friend. “Saeed’s mother gave me his t-shirts, asking me to raise her son’s name everywhere I go and play,” she said.
Odeh won prizes in various tournaments at both home and abroad, but was unable to make it to the event in Sharm el-Sheikh. “We took his name and his dream to Sharm el-Sheikh,” said Sarhan. “And won.”
