Until the 77th minute of the game against Japan, the Israeli national under-20 team was an untold story. A young and cohesive group that managed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in history, impressed and lost against Colombia, fought and scratched 1:1 against Senegal, raised its hands against an organized and strong Japanese team. Had the game ended in the 77th minute, this team would have folded up their gear, boarded a plane back to Israel and everyone would have resumed their business.
Had the game ended in the 77th minute, this team would not have succeeded in entering the hearts of the Israeli public, would not have succeeded in attracting an entire public as it did at last year's Euros. If the final whistle had sounded in the 77th minute, no one would have discovered how special this team is. Luckily, football is played for 90 minutes.
Israel is making history in Argentina. Japanese in shock, photo: AP
Israel makes history in Argentina, photo: Reuters
For the most part, a football game makes sense. Clichés are all well and good, but not really everything is possible. Professional matters play a role, the course of the game also influences, and there is also this matter of images. Just as it was clear that Bayern Munich would end the Bundesliga season as German champions because it was them and Dortmund was Dortmund, so too it seemed until the 77th minute that the Israeli team would end its journey in the tournament.
The image of Israeli football, and this is true for all ages, is not an image of transcendence at the moment of truth. The heroic stories of our football are lonely, drops in a sea of tears of disappointment. So, in the 77th minute, logic said Japan. Easy. They were better, leading 0-1 and carrying an image of the Japanese, while we were a goal behind, a player behind and a history lag to lean on. An Israeli loss was the story written there, but Ofir Haim's team was determined to tell its story.
Ofir Haim is at the center of the festivities. History for the Israeli national team, photo: AP
Senior scores Israel's Arc de Triomphe, Photo: AFP
In the 77th minute, she pressed delete, and started writing a new story.
[In Mendoza, Argentina's wine city, two different games were played on Friday night. In the first, Japan beat Israel 0:1, and in the second, Israel defeated Japan 0:2 with ten players. There is no connection between these games, each of them is a completely separate entity. In the first, Ofir Haim's players were unable to enter the game. The tricky Japanese easily reached a goal by Tomer Sarfati, who repelled the first three chances but surrendered in the fourth.
Omar Senior stunned Japan in the 92nd minute, Photo: AP
Omar Senior stunned Japan in the 92nd minute,
In that first game, Ran Binyamin came on as a substitute and was sent off after two yellows within three minutes. In this first game the Israeli players looked nervous and unfocused, until in the 77th minute they moved on to the second game. There, knowing it was now or never, the guys in white took over the business. "We always believed in ourselves," coach Ofir Haim will say at the end, that there is now no choice but to believe him too.
Rui Nawi scored the equaliser in the 77th minute, and everything changed. Israel's self-confidence rose, and that of the Japanese plummeted. All the clichés about football were thrown away, all logic became irrelevant, there was a team here rewriting the story. Even playing with ten players, the team knew it would win.
Roy Nawi. Restore hope to Ofir Haim's team, Photo: Reuters
Dor Turgeman guards the ball, Photo: AP
It's hard to explain the feeling, but even Nachmin – a 10-year-old boy who was in the stands and fell in love with the Israeli spirit – knew that 1-2 would come. The cool breeze blew into the Japanese gate, pushing us forward and pushing them back. This spirit was so strong that in the 92nd minute it led Stav Lemkin, Dor Turgeman and Omer Senior to make a move that teams or teams do not make in extra time of a decisive game when they need a goal. It was a calm, calculated, classy and faithful move. "I cannot describe what I felt at that moment, immense happiness," concluded the conqueror Senior; "I guess it's all from above," Dor Turgeman added.
The attempts to provide an explanation for what happened there – a 1-2 victory that sent the team to the eighth round of the FIFA U-20 World Cup against Uzbekistan – led the players and Ofir Haim to spiritual and heavenly places, but after three games with this team throughout Argentina, it can be said with certainty that nothing here is coincidental.
This is their story, and it makes the most sense.
Ran Binyamin on the ground. Sent off in the second half, Photo: AP
Eli Feingold sends a long leg, Photo: AP
Israeli defense in action, photo: AP
The Israeli national team in a souvenir photo, photo: AP
The Japanese celebrate the advantage, Photo: Reuters
The Japanese celebrate the advantage, Photo: Reuters
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Ofir Haim on the lines, photo: AP
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