Rotensteiner in a farewell interview: "The Jewish-Arab confrontation, which entered the team, was the most difficult for me"

Willy Rotensteiner will leave Israel this week and may return soon: "Does not rule out group work here."

He returns to the national conflict and the Dabour story ("the most difficult event I went through in football") and clarifies: "I do not know when Israel will qualify for a big tournament, but the direction is right"

Yaniv Tuchman

08/02/2022

Tuesday, 08 February 2022, 06:30 Updated: 06:31

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The 2: 5 summary of the Israeli team over Austria in the World Cup qualifiers (Sport 1)

At an incredible time yesterday (Monday) Willie Rotensteiner drove to the airport just hours after the Football Association announced its end. No, it was not a farewell yet. In an unusual timing, his daughter landed in Israel yesterday with her partner to travel in Israel and get to know the southern part of the country up close.

Rotensteiner arrived at Ben Gurion Airport to pick them up and today he will spend a whole day with them on trips before saying goodbye tomorrow to all the employees of the national teams and the football association in Shefayim. The next day he will be on the field again, this time to leave Israel The special that he gave to Walla! Sport. "I will return home to Austria and rest a little, but not for much. I want to get back to work soon and I have some options both as a professional manager and as a coach. Not that there are any offers yet, but there will be. "

"I certainly do not rule it out, open to suggestions if they come, but I would like to stay here as national team coach. I do not hide my disappointment that I do not continue. I have already seen the fruits on the table and I was convinced we will do beautiful things in the League of Nations. "From the first two places in the last house when we had Denmark, Scotland and Austria. In the League of Nations, on the other hand, Russia, Iceland and Albania will be waiting for Israel and it will already be more realistic to succeed there. I think the team has developed under my hands."

More on Walla!

Behind the scenes: the conditions set by Rotensteiner and the criteria for the next coach

To the full article

"I do not hide my disappointment that I do not continue. I have already seen the fruits on the table and I was convinced that we will do beautiful things in the League of Nations" (Photo: Udi Citiat)

More on Walla!

• Willy Rotensteiner has finished his career as coach of the Israeli national team

• Mons Dabour reveals: "I was on the verge of retiring from the Israeli team"

• Tuvia Tzafir tried and was amazed: the treatment that made the pain go away and put it back in time

Are you disappointed and also angry?

"I do not think it would be right to say that I was angry because the process was proper and the separation was very honorable. My relationship with Oren Hasson was excellent and we parted with a lot of mutual respect."

"I will not talk about what was between me and Oren. We both agreed not to take anything out of the private conversations and meetings we had. In the end they decided I would not continue and that is what determines. I leave a place I loved and love in the future. I love Israel and will always be your ambassador. "I met very warm people here. People I loved."

"Absolutely. An excellent decision I made. I had a bit of a hard time when there was a war here, but coming to Israel was a big gain for my life."

"Without a doubt. Great adventure. I want to say thank you to all those good people I met here. People who always cheered and said great words always."

More on Walla!

Get ready, you're likely to fail: this is what awaits the next national team coach

To the full article

Rotensteiner: "This struggle took place in the country and it entered our team life" (Photo: Berni Ardov)

How did you feel when Oren informed you that you were not continuing?

"Beyond the disappointment, I really do not want to go into depth. We issued a respectful statement by Shlomi Barzel. Warm things were said. We shook hands and said goodbye as friends."

"This is a difficult question. Israel has been in a good process for two years and has advanced 25 places in the world rankings. If Israel continues on its right path it will rise another 25 places and then the big tournament will be within reach. I think there is a good process here and should continue. "Centers of Excellence and Coaching. I do not know when the day will come for Israel to compete in major tournaments. I can say that it took Austria 15 years to rise from 102nd in the world to 10th in the world. 15 years of work."

"It's not fair to take it out. My phone is full of messages. A lot of personal messages are sent that excite me and it would not be fair to name one name or another. It's over. I gave my all here. I also made mistakes, but I always did everything for Israeli football."

"There are a lot of decisions in football that are examined retrospectively. If I brought in a player and it worked, then they said I succeeded and if I did not make a substitution, they said I made a mistake that I did not make a change. In football we always examine things after that."

Received love from the actors.

Willie separates (Photo: Reuters)

If you receive a phone call from a candidate to coach the Israeli team who will ask you whether to take the job, what will you tell him?

"I do not think I need to advise the next candidate. If he wants to know something, I will obviously say but by and large I am not the man who should advise whoever comes here after me."

"You have to ask them. It's over. I had a good relationship with the players. I did everything for them. I think they gave everything for the country."

"The Jewish-Arab conflict that threatened to hurt the team was very difficult for me. This confrontation was very difficult for me as a foreign coach here. It is possible that an Israeli coach would have handled it better. "It was conducted in the country and it entered our team life. Together with the association, we managed to resolve it and the team remained united and positive in the end."

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