"I have no regrets, absolutely not, not even one," is how the professional director of the Israeli national team, Yossi Benayoun, summed up the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign after the 2-1 loss to Romania. "It's clear that at the end of the day, people only look at the outcome and it's perfectly fine for everyone to look at what they think."
"We see a lot of good things in the team." The professional director continued: "If it wasn't for the war, I think it could have been a whole campaign that for the first time the Israeli team fills stadiums, every game 30,<> spectators came. A lot of young people from the youth and Olympic teams who have played and progressed, I have no doubt that no matter who is here in the coming years, there is a team here for many years to come and I have no doubt that the team will reach a big tournament."
When Benayoun talks about the fact that no matter who heads the team, he believes it will reach a major tournament, he also clarified the issue of his future and the future of coach Alon Hazan: "I am not considering finishing anything, I am disappointed with today's game, but we must not forget that we have games in March and we will do everything there. I believe we will go up to the Euros, I believe in the next generation."
, the professional team of the Israeli national team. Photo: Udi Zitiat
Benayoun explained the decision to remove striker Sean Wiseman from the squad in the crucial game, saying: "For me it's a very simple story, he committed a disciplinary violation, apologized and understood. I don't want to repeat it. I have seen in all sorts of places these and other publications for his benefit and for the benefit of everyone, I will not repeat the words he said, not only the ones you saw, but also the ones you did not see in the direction of the staff and the direction of the bench. In the end, we had no choice and I think that's the minimum punishment he could have gotten, because it could have been a lot worse."
Benayoun did not avoid the fact that the team took only a point out of nine in its three important games against Kosovo, Switzerland and Romania, and clarified: "These are the facts and there is nothing we can do. At the moment we are all disappointed, we came to a very important game that even with the result of Switzerland (1:1 with Kosovo LN) you can say that we were in the Euros, very disappointing, but in the end if Romania won and went up then they deserve more than we deserve."
Yossi Benayoun, No Regrets, Photo: Gideon Markowitz
Asked how much the situation affected the country, the national team's professional director said: "We didn't talk about it and we didn't look for excuses, it's a given situation that we will deal with. I would give up every euro for the next 100 years in exchange for the event that happened on October 7th would not happen. There are more important things and unfortunately it happened and as a result we had to play abroad and not in front of 30,<> people in the Teddy against Romania, but these are facts and there is nothing to excuse."
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The Romanian national team celebrates qualifying for the Euros. 'She deserves more than us', Photo: AP
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