Omar Atzili has retired from the Israeli national team.
The Football Association was supposed to make a decision today (Thursday) regarding the summoning of the Maccabi Haifa midfielder for the pair of friendly matches against Zambia and Cyprus, but it turns out that the midfielder decided to surprise this evening with a retirement announcement against the background of the petition from the women's organizations and the demand from the association that he attend the discussions.
Atzili wrote in a post on Instagram: "Since I was a child I always had an ambition to be a player in the Israeli national team.
The pride and honor to represent our country, to wear uniforms in the colors of the flag and to hear the national anthem before a game, is something that simply cannot be explained in words - the greatest pride and honor there is.
To my deep regret, since my last call-up to the national team there has been sharp criticism and extensive discussion on the subject.
I am aware of that, of course.
There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about it, read about it, talk about it, or every second person on the street expresses their opinion on the matter (by the way, I must mention that at the same time I receive a lot of warmth and love and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for that).
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A post shared by Omer Atzili ⚽️🇮🇱 #7 (@omeratzili)
"I want to say clearly, once again, what has already been said several times - not a day goes by that I don't regret what happened. A big and huge regret. It shouldn't have happened and I don't discount myself, not even for a moment.
On the other hand, sometimes the difficult conversation that I and those close to me suffer, lacks all proportionality.
I was wrong, but the desire of some people sometimes hypocritically, simply to trample, is not easy for me.
In view of the dance of demons that is taking place around me, I have come to the conclusion that this is one of those moments in life where difficult decisions need to be made.
"So I made a difficult decision and today I'm stepping aside, the peace for my family, and the success of the Israel national team are the only ones standing before my eyes now, I'm putting the national team uniforms in the closet and giving everyone the peace they need."
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