Watch the Israel national under-20 team return to the hotel after losing in the semifinals of the World Cup (Shlomo Weiss)
In Eitan Dotan's excellent footage from Euro 2022 for youth, which went viral on the Israel Broadcasting Corporation, Ofir Haim was caught telling his players on the eve of the opening game of the Euro against Serbia: "I am ready to lose to the Serbs in football, they are a great team, but I am not willing to lose to them with determination and will."
Surprisingly, Ofir Haim repeated this phrase the other day, at the press conference ahead of the World Cup semi-final against Uruguay. The glittering event, the extraordinary arrival of communication - the distance, the cost, the event - in recent days, and also the impossible collection of victories, confused Ophir with a little life between the continents. Serbia, like almost every team from the Balkans, is a tough team; The German team is like that too; The teams of the British provinces are like this; You can overcome them with determination and lose to them in football, but if there's one team in the world whose football is determination itself, it's Uruguay. There is no team more determined, tough, and killer than Uruguay. No country is so small that produces so many achievements in just one sport, nothing more, than the sparsely populated country on the less glamorous side of the Río de la Plata.
Watch the game summary courtesy of Kan Broadcasting Corporation
In football by the bock we are probably better, in Uruguayan football they were much better. Win every tackle, every aerial battle, get ahead of every stray bullet. Look at the gate we kidnapped. A ball bounced off the beam, our two experienced defenders run quickly to the rebound and Anderson Duarte - smaller, more agile and mostly more determined - puts his foot and before that his body, soul, personality, to touch the ball first and score.
Look at Anderson Duarte at all. how he approaches a height ball without height, bends, puts a buttocks, puts the tailbone in the tailbone with it; Look at his leap for the first ball, for the second ball, for the rebound; Look at his paperwork, at the crying for the last ten minutes. Remember Luis Suarez crying in extra-time in the 2010 World Cup quarter-final against Ghana after knocking off a goal in the 120th minute and being sent off? Anderson Duarte is one to one Suarez. Now you will see the reach of the ball of their brakes in stationary situations: Lugano and Godin or Godin and Jiménez. The Uruguayans produce their mochachos according to manufacturer's requirements: bite, sometimes actually bite.
You can beat Uruguay in the football we know, but that's the football she knows, and if she got you into these street fights, forget about your football. No one can make Uruguay better than Uruguay.
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Israel lost to Uruguay 1-0 in World Cup semifinals
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One to one Suarez. Anderson Duarte (Photo by Getty Images, JUAN MABROMATA/AFP)
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Suárez celebrated, ESPN claimed: "The game was big on the Israeli team
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But that can't take away a single compliment from what Israel has achieved in these three amazing weeks in Argentina. The biggest compliment is that the worst pitch in the world right now – the stadium of Gimnasia La Plata – was chosen to host 18 of the 52 matches at the World Cup, 18 games in three weeks, 10 of them in five days, twice a day. Even Diego Maradona, after whom the stadium is named, could not give it a pass. And in its six games so far in the tournament, Israel has not won three – all three it has played in La Plata.
And why a compliment? Because teams that play football, that drive, that create, that think, that change places, that play from foot to foot and fast, can't play in La Plata, can't get out of defense to attack, can't produce kick after dribble or moving the ball on such a shocking surface.
These are the conditions that stood for Uruguay as well, these are the conditions on many South American courts, but that is exactly why Uruguay, of all the South American teams, has come the farthest. It's the only court that bothers her rivals more than it does. This is the only pitch where her disability in modern football does not manifest itself. So here's a compliment: It is reasonable to assume that on any other field, Israel would have won yesterday, because in standard football it is better.
You are probably asking, how out of all the courts in Argentina, the worst stadium was chosen to host the semi-finals and finals. That's how FIFA imagines that Indonesia will host Israel in Ahlen Ahlen and Ahlen and Sahlen, until a month before the World Cup and then decides that a country whose league is active, whose teams (including Jimencia) are busy this week in Libertadores or Sudamericana, will host the World Cup. And the biggest pitch out of the vacancies was the one in La Plata.
Larry Bird once said that "God is in the details," and thought at that moment about the World Cup semifinals and the Israeli national team. Did we say Maradona? We won't go far. God couldn't give a pass yesterday at La Plata either.
The greatest achievement that Israeli football can ever achieve. Autumn Lemkin (Photo by Getty Images, Eurasia Sport Images)
Yesterday was Uruguay's seventh game in the World Cup semifinals. It was Israel's first game on this occasion, including the first World Cup. The chances of Uruguay being in the World Cup in 2025 are great. It should be just one of the top four in the Youth Copa América, out of 10 teams on the continent. In order for Israel to qualify for the next World Cup, the youth team born in 2005 must advance from the qualifying tournament in October, finish first in the elite stage in March 2024 and then finish among the top five at the European Championship, a championship in which Israel has participated only three times, winning only two games. Europe sends five teams out of 55, South America four out of 10.
In this respect, this event – the Israeli national team at the FIFA U-20 World Championship – was almost a one-time event in its circumstances, and certainly one-time in its achievements. It takes a few good years, year after year, to reach the European Championships, go through the group stage, compete for the title, in order to become permanent residents of the World Cup, or alternatively, the Under-23 World Cup – that is, the Olympic Games.
So be grateful. You've seen history. It will take years before you see her again. Not because Israeli football is bad – it actually proved quite the opposite in this tournament – but because it has no history of success. Only a history of successes will turn this event into a routine. The semi-finals of the World Youth Soccer Championship - change this title despite the disappointment of yesterday's result - this is the greatest achievement that Israeli football will ever be able to achieve. Won't be higher than that.
Gave his team to enjoy. Ofir Haim (Photo by Getty Images, Eurasia Sport Images)
What can be taken away from this event? First of all the mental success. The national team managed to overcome the status and its spotlight, the fears, the stigma, the legacy of Israeli football: collapse in moments of truth. There were so many moments of truth here that Israel transcended that it already seemed like abuse of demons of the past.
Then there was football. Ofir Haim let his team have fun, let it play like these kids did at home. He chose the fast, the brave, the tough and the winners. To choose so many of these, to be precise in defenders, defenders, defenders, midfielders, wingers, and strikers, without Oscar Gluch and without Idan Tocalomati, from the same pool from which all coaches pull their chosen ones - it's a prodigy. What connected with Ophir was already the bonus. Israeli football has not had a coach who is as real as the coach of its youth team, which is why his national team's football seems so unreal and unrealistic to what we know. He was the football we wanted to see, and we didn't even know that this desire could be fulfilled. We've been taught all these years that this is not a program as you request.
And you can also take Tomer Sarfati – a formidable goalkeeper – or Eili Feingold and Roy Revivo, attacking defenders in a four-player defensive formation, or the standing, and covering, and technique of Israelov and Lemkin, or Lemkin and Israelov; And Madmon's touch, and Kanzpolsky's entrances, and Halaili's speed and agility and Senior's and Lugasi's and Turgeman's strengths. How many of them will make it to the national team? They say five is enough, but there is a feeling that there will be more. It's entirely up to the league's owners and coaches, and it seems that in recent weeks they have received approval from the Israeli fan community to use these children immediately.
And the most important thing we took away from this championship, which will end on Sunday for Israel in the bronze medal game: We have succeeded in enjoying Israeli football in the last three weeks. Three full weeks. It never happened to us in our lives, at least not from what I remember.
We enjoyed Israeli football.
Thank you, really thank you.
- sport
- Israeli football
- Israeli national teams
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- Mondialito
- Ofir Haim
