When the game was finally over, after extra time and penalty kicks, the Palestinian squad had lost to Thailand. But the Palestinian national team's first official soccer match on home turf Wednesday gave thousands of raucous fans who braved a cold and rain-lashed night a taste of international recognition.

A qualifying game for the 2012 London Olympics, the match was more than a sporting event. It was also freighted with symbolism for both organizers and ordinary people who packed the stadium in Al-Ram, a West Bank suburb of Jerusalem that is cut in two by Israel's separation barrier.

"This is an historic day and a landmark in the history of the Palestinian cause," said Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestinian Football Association. "It is a clear-cut message to the world and the international community that the Palestinian people deserve independence and freedom."

The very fact that the game was played here was seen as a victory over adversity. "In spite of the difficulties, the weather, the Israeli checkpoints, people in their thousands came," Rajoub said. It was the first time the Palestinian team had played a competitive game at home, after several friendly matches in recent years.

More than 16,500 fans arrived by the busload from across the West Bank, filling the stands to wave flags, pound drums and roar "Palestine!"

Energized before the home crowd, the Palestinian squad showed some crisp passing and scored a goal in the final minute of the first half, lining up to salute Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the VIP stand as the stadium erupted. A song celebrating the national team blasted through speakers, and people danced in the aisles.

But after losing at Thailand 1-0 last month in the first leg of the match, the Palestinians needed a second goal to keep the game from a decisive penalty-kick shootout. They squandered several opportunities, however, and the Thais won the shootout, 6 to 5, to advance.
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"The game shouldn't be measured by the result," said Ramzi Amro, from Dura, near Hebron. "The measure is that the Thai team came. It means that they recognize something called Palestine and a Palestinian people. And they came to Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine. This is a neighborhood of Jerusalem."

Sadeq Hudur, from Hebron, said though he was disappointed by the result, the game meant that "the Palestinians have a presence on the international map."

The game, held under the auspices of the Asian Football Confederation, had all the trappings of a match between two countries, with national flags displayed and anthems played before the game began.

Composed of players from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Palestinian team has struggled to train together because of difficulties in getting Israeli permits to allow players out of Gaza. Out of 11 Gaza players who were supposed to join the team for Wednesday's game, only six were given permits to leave, and three arrived too late to be registered to play, team members said.

The team's Tunisian coach, Mokhtar Tlili, said that he has had to leave the West Bank for several weeks at a time every three months, under Israeli regulations governing permits to stay in the territory. He returned only Monday to prepare for Wednesday's game.

Mustafa Abu Qweik, the team captain, said before the match that despite the lack of sufficient time to practice together, the team had high morale. "What we lack in skills, we make up in fighting spirit," he said.

But that wasn't enough to move on to the next round. "We didn't capitalize on opportunities," Tlili told reporters after the game, saying that his players seemed intimidated by the gravity of the moment. But he added: "This team has a future."