This coming Sunday, Israel's youth handball team will open its games in the European Under-18 Championship, Level B, which will be held at Shlomo Hall in Tel Aviv.
The clear goal is to win the tournament, which will give her a pair of participation tickets to the Under-19 World Championship next summer and the European Under-20 Championship in 2024, and will close a dream summer for the industry, after the reserve team won the European Under-20 Championship Tier B.
The one who will lead the players in blue and white is captain Uri Falah, who recently won the double with Hapoel Rishon LeZion's youth team.
The event will be exciting for him, when he and several other friends will wear a special commemorative shirt in memory of the late Roi Falah, Uri's uncle, who died about two years ago from cancer. Roi was a player on the Israeli national team and on Rishon's senior team. He was also Uri's coach , and recently plays in the team that bears his name.
"We made the shirt in memory of my uncle. Since it happened, many things in my career revolve around him. He has always been an inspiration to me," Uri tells Israel Hayom, "It led me from the school team that is named after him, while at the same time my family does a lot To commemorate him, mainly in a combination of handball and studies."
Did you have a strong relationship?
"He coached me and my brother. He would come to my games, and we would sit after the game and analyze what needs to be improved and done better. He did a lot so that I would eventually succeed. The way I play today is only thanks to him."
So for you this tournament is a kind of closing a circle?
"I feel like I'm continuing his path, it pushes me forward. I'm now trying to do my best to succeed. Many times you can say we're playing for him. It's something we always think about, and it also motivates us mentally."
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Great importance for the home crowd, photo: Hadar van Kola, Handball Association
Now we come to the European Championship, what will we see there?
"The ambition is to win the tournament. We arrive after good preparation, and we've been waiting for this moment all year. We did several tournaments abroad and showed what we're worth, including victories over first-tier teams.
We want to succeed and go as far as possible."
How stressful is it to play at home?
"There is always talk about it, and we brothers also deal with it and sometimes it also helps. The industry is also in a good time, and there is a large amount of legionnaires. If we also win the European Championship, it is something that has not happened for many years."
Where can this lead the industry?
"First of all, this will increase the exposure. If we also win, then we will go to the world championship and maybe to the Olympics. We are on the rise in everything related to the sport, from the young ages to the seniors, which produces very good results against the world's top team. If we continue this trend, we can reach high ".
Do you have a closing message?
"The tournament is now at our house, it's not something that happens every day. After such a championship in the ball industry, we will need all the help we can get. We need the audience to achieve our goal."
Rivals: Bulgaria, Georgia and Lithuania
At the beginning of the week, the team completed its final preparation in Poland, in a pair of training matches against the local team (which participates in the European Championship, Tier 1).
The first game between the teams ended in an Israeli loss 35:29, and in the second the players in blue and white managed to achieve a narrow victory 27:28.
This preparation joins successful matches in Montenegro, which hosts the European Championship Tier A, which included two wins and a draw.
The professional team includes Oleg Botenko as a professional manager, and the coaches Assaf Levy, Kafir Drai and Julian Strat.
The team's expanded squad for the championship includes Tal Peled and Lior Shein as goalkeepers, Captain Falah, Nitzan Shamai, Itai Yehuda, Kobi Bezeq, Tomer Rash, Eliran Markovich, Noam Sosna, Assaf Socholitsky, Amit Kurtzman, Assaf Sharon, Amit Shani, Omri Nussbaum, Amit Ben Atia and Ben Or Gonen.
Coach Levy said before the championship: "We played two games in Poland, which for us were the last test. In the last game we played our best half, but then we faded and the game got away from us.
We need to work on coordination and small things that can still be done, in order to arrive as fresh and sharp as we can."
As mentioned, at the beginning of the week the national team will meet Bulgaria (Sunday), Georgia (Monday) and Lithuania (Wednesday) in the group stage.
To qualify for the semi-finals, the players will have to get one of the first two places at home, where the Netherlands, the Czech Republic or Greece will be waiting for them.
The semi-final and final games will be held on Friday-Saturday August 12-13.
Entry to the games is free.
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