How fickle football can be.
Last week the young Israeli team was on the boards after the embarrassing loss to Latvia, which almost eliminated the great campaign in the Euro qualifiers, and here yesterday, with a little help from the German team, the blue and white team celebrated big qualification for the 2023 European Under-21s playoffs.
The victory over San Marino was especially exciting for Maccabi Netanya midfielder Amir Berkovich, who scored in his national uniform debut: "I received several summonses in the past and was always injured, but this time it happened and I fulfilled a dream," he says in an interview with Israel Today. , And adds, "For me, there is nothing bigger than representing the country, and I'm also happy that I opened the game with a goal that took the pressure off us. It's fun to end the season like this, and I'm already looking forward to next year with Netanya."
Berkowitz.
Celebrating the Early Gate, Photo: Alan Schieber
How does it feel to score in the premiere?
"I can talk about it until tomorrow, but it's really the best feeling in the world, I felt like I'm on some cloud. Suddenly I saw fans of Maccabi Haifa, Betar Jerusalem, Netanya, everyone celebrating in the team's goal and calling your name, and that "Something else, it's hard to put into words that feeling."
Would have been more reflective if we had won 5 or 0: 6?
"We talked before the game that we needed to start strong, and we really scored two quick goals that might have been followed by a bit of a drop in tension, but we could still score 4-5 safe goals. In the second half we wanted to keep the ball and the result and the main thing was Poland losing points."
How did Guy Luzon keep you focused in this game?
"Before the game he told us 'let's do what's up to us, let there be no situation where Poland will not take points and we will miss the opportunity to go up, we have to do what's up to us and things work out for the best.' "Poland against Germany, we only focused on our game, and only at the end did we run to the cell phones to see what the result was there and we did not believe it."
Berkowitz with the fans at the end, Photo: Alan Shiver
What does this achievement say about your generation?
"For me, and also Jella Jose said it, to finish second at home with European champions Germany, Poland and Hungary, it's a huge achievement, and we did it while a lot of successful players here moved on to the senior team. That achievement shows a lot about our talent, but we "We are not satisfied with just the playoffs, we are good enough to be in the Euros and not come there to screw up at the event, but to give games and that every player here will fulfill his dream."
In general, Berkowitz, who took off for a vacation in Italy this morning, appears to be on the highway.
After leaving Barnsley and returning to Israel to serve in the IDF, he was loaned from Maccabi Tel Aviv to Betar Ramla, in the summer he returned to the front of the stage and moved to Maccabi Netanya, and despite several injuries he showed in the last part of the season what to expect.
"From a young age I was always taught to believe in myself and my abilities. In football things change so fast and we go crazy. You see players from the third division in France who suddenly became European champions," he says. I will reach the European Championship, I always look at the next game, but I am very happy that within a year since I was in the national team, I also stepped out of the Euros and also came to Europe with Maccabi Netanya, but my ambitions and goals will not stop here. "
The team celebrates at the end, Photo: Alan Schieber
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