Summary: All tonight's goals from the Euro 2024 qualifiers, Friday 3/24 (Sport1)
In the 2:0 yesterday, the one who was disqualified thanks to the VAR for touching the hand, was Lee De Gea.
October 1985, the Israeli national team hosts Australia.
In Israel they are talking about an Israeli team that was unlike any other, and from Australia they only know the coach, Frank Aruk.
50,000 people came to the game and saw the Australian team take the lead from the defender Gedi Mence losing the ball to David Mitchell and then doubling it from a close-range shot by John Cosmina.
It is so etched in the sporting consciousness of my peers, because it was a real fiasco.
Fortunately for us, yesterday's hand did not help Rashitsa the Kosovar score but saved us from losing and only postponed the end.
Posts on Facebook or a column of a minute and a quarter on television, are not similar to an article in this respectable hostel, so I don't say that I "told you so" even though that's what I told you: that's not how you build a team.
At least not one that will go up to Euro 2024, maybe to Euro 2028.
The team's rejuvenation process, a dramatic process it must be said, hurt its chances of qualifying for the next Euro, from a relatively comfortable home, because the status is great for some of the talented but immature players and it is destructive for the experienced but less talented players.
This mix that was injected into the team turned out to be a mess against Kosovo yesterday.
New professional teams love to change.
Indeed, the team presses high, tries to move the ball quickly, but it lacks spirit, it lacks powerful players.
We came with a new spirit and discovered the Rothensteiner team again, younger but with the same unforced errors.
Even before we talk about the ability, we will talk about the staff.
Too many good players out there - for all sorts of reasons - good players who are also decisive players.
The team gathered with four strikers on paper, one of whom was also injured, and with only two brakes.
That is, in any uncontrolled situation - injury or suspension or fear of suspension - you have to change the formation or place players in a position they are not used to.
And this is in an official game from which there is usually no way back.
Perhaps it is worth clarifying here: Israel hosted its main rival for the ticket to the Euro yesterday and did not win.
She will have to rematch in Pristina, or alternatively win in Romania.
In the cruise they used to say: we threw away the first cruise.
There is nothing left to throw away.
And so you ask yourself: do all the fundamental matters determine the way the national team will go in the coming years but do not affect the result, who cares?
What serious team goes to two important games in three days with three strikers and two defenders in the squad?
Does anyone have an illusion that the road will prove itself on Tuesday and the team will actually win in Geneva?
The same team, the same mistakes (photo: Barney Ardov)
Contrary to the huge compliments showered on Kosovo by the players and the coach and some journalists, it was said that if this is the main rival for the Euros, and who might still play in the Euros, then we have a fairly mediocre team for the purpose of comparison and weak in European terms.
Kosovo pressed back and sent long balls, but Israel got involved in almost all of its attacks and did not bring its - few - advantages to light.
The truth must be told: yesterday's event was great for Oskar Gloch.
True, he had 4 key passes, more than any player on the team, and he also put Manor Solomon one on one in front of the goalkeeper, but for most of the game he was lost in moving the ball, didn't find areas, lost balls, wasn't accurate in passing and worst of all: disappeared.
A player who, until 10 months ago, was unknown to most football fans except Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, was given the number 10 position of the Israel national team in a critical game. Yossi Benyon at his age was a rising star in Maccabi Haifa, after 15 goals in his first season in Hapoel BS, and a cup quarterfinal Holding with Maccabi Haifa, a campaign in which he was the standout.
Did it give him the shirt of Eyal Berkovic or Haim Rabivo in the national team?
No.
Israel defeated Austria without him 0:5, and he scored his first significant goal for the national team at the age of 19 and a half, when he came on as a substitute in Cyprus.
Banyon was combined with moderation and intelligence until he became her biggest star.
We didn't get the full potential of Manor Solomon either, maybe because he received the royal scepter with a lot of expectations.
Although he was one of the best in the team, he was unable to decide a game that was completely up to his standards, and great players decide a game.
We know this from Eran Zahavi, he gave a living example of this, but Zahavi is gone and it is expected of those who are defined as his successors and who certainly receive greater superlatives than him, to fill his place.
If Solomon looks left and right he will not find anyone in his dimensions.
It's stressful but it's also binding.
It was another problematic performance by the team's defense.
I mean, it doesn't matter what the road is, what the wind is, what the lineup is, the defense will give its tithe to the opponent.
Yesterday it ended with a legal (own) goal and an invalid goal, on Tuesday the situation will only get worse.
And this comes after a brake game with the fewest errors in recent years.
Vitor was great, Raz Shlomo contributed an interception that resulted in a goal and few will remember him as an excellent game.
The backlink (what happened to Neta Lavi?) was airy, slow, and Eli Desa was terrible.
Haziza did a great job, but he got tired and as soon as he left, the flame of the team went out.
Then came the exchanges.
Substitutions should create a temporary advantage against tired opponents, should improve the situation and not make it worse.
Hamudi Kanaan replaced Dolev Haziza and here the team already had a youth team player and a young team player in the offensive part, which is too great a luxury in the decisive minutes.
Kana'an played as a neighbor yesterday, lost almost every ball he received and did not help in defense.
In the 4 minutes of extra time that the team received from the referee to secure a victory, 3.5 minutes the ball was at the opponent's feet.
Kanaan simply gave a refill to the Kosovo attacks and repeatedly gave them the ball.
In practice, the exchanges weakened the team, did not refresh it and did not decide in its favor.
More in Walla!
How did Eran Zahavi react to the Israeli team's draw?
The network is bursting with laughter
To the full article
The morning after in the team
In the national team, we defended ourselves: "Those who are already eulogizing us will regret it in the end"
Desa admits a mistake, Solomon explains why he didn't give a message, Weissman answers
Zahavi says goodbye to Natcho: "Proud you were my captain, you always gave your all"
Too many expectations?
Manor Solomon (photo: Barney Ardov)
Beavers Natcho came on yesterday in the 88th minute for his 88th appearance.
6 minutes with injury time he was on the field, a kind of standing ovation at the least right time, a game where you have to win.
Natcho was needed on the field long before and will be needed by these kids in the future as well, but he anticipated the trend and is leaving prematurely, it seems even contrary to what he planned.
Eli Gutman did him the first injustice when he transferred him in 2008 from the midfielder position below the strikers to the position of the playmaker at the back, until he was fixed in the mind as a back midfielder.
This affected part of the audience who did not understand why a player who does not give numbers continues to receive credit in the team.
In a dynamic game, you see less of the leadership, the fatherhood, the dedication, the friendship, the character.
In a national team match, you don't see 128 career goals (even if some of them are penalties).
And so Natcho retires from the national team on Tuesday with the underwritten crown on his head.
More in Walla!
Natcho said goodbye in tears, Solomon: "A role model for every player"
To the full article
Watch the trend.
Natcho (Photo: Barney Ardov)
In the bottom line, once again a mountain of expectations was placed on top of a well of disappointments, and once again we discovered that the blanket is short, that the road is crooked, and that the mountains are higher with each climbing attempt.
It may be that in this process we will still see surprises.
Israel will play until the end of the current season against Switzerland away, against Belarus away and against Andorra at home, and it is expected to get 6 points, the same 6 points it was expected to get even if it had won yesterday.
The real struggle will begin in the games that will be played next season: will the process mature, will the professional team let young players rub shoulders in the prestigious tournaments that are expected for our age groups (the European Under-21 Championship and the Mondialeto), so that they come more experienced to the senior team?
How will the legionnaires get to the game in Romania in September and the game against Switzerland in Bloomfield and the game in Kosovo in October.
We have to believe that yesterday's stumbling - which could have been worse and more dramatic - is part of the process and the situation will improve, but it is important that we remember: if we do not use all the best players at our disposal, it will be difficult for us to both carry out a process and bring results.
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