The Israel National Team blanked Belgium 1-0 late Sunday night as Yarden Shua’s late goal helped end the blue-and-white’s Nations League campaign on a high note.
In a “home” game played in Hungary due to the security situation in the Holy Land, Ran Ben Shimon’s side recorded one of the biggest wins in its history since joining UEFA in the early 1990s.
After drawing 0-0 with France in Paris late last week to collect its first point of League A’s group stage, Israel finally picked up its first win to finish Group 2 with four points in fourth place, just behind Belgium. France took first place, while Italy captured second.
Despite the victory, Israel will be relegated to League B but will be seeded in the third group for World Cup Qualifying, which will take place in December.
Israel controlled the pace of play early on at the Bozsik Aréna in Budapest as both sides had chances to crack the game open. However, it was only in the 85th minute that the blue-and-white finally broke through when a poor Belgium pass in the box went straight to Dia Saba, who was knocked off the ball by Sambi Lokonga. Shua jumped all over the loose ball and slammed it past ’keeper Koen Casteels to secure the lead, the win, and the three points.
“This was a great win, but it was about the journey we took, especially after the game we played in France,” Ben Shimon said. “We have an exceptional national team. Things are working out because we have some excellent players who understand the game plan, and players in attacking positions played phenomenal defense. Whether it was Oscar Gloukh or Manor Solomon, they were just fantastic. I am so proud of the guys.”
Celebratory mood
The coach continued with his gushing praise.
“We are a national team that has a path laid out for us and will continue to keep working. These were the greatest three days for me as a head coach, and I have such an incredible staff working with me. But our real heroes are the ones who are battling for our country; we have to remember what type of country we are and those who have sacrificed it all. We have to keep what we did in proportion.”
Israel Football Association Chairman Shino Zuarets expressed his thoughts on the national team’s accomplishments.
“This evening is close to perfection, although we missed playing in front of our fans at home throughout the Nations League campaign. I am proud of the staff and players for the progress, determination, and how well we played. This is a start that gives great hope for the future, and above all, we are waiting to return to play in our one and only home – the State of Israel.”
Shua, the game’s lone scorer, spoke about his winning marker.
“It’s an incredible feeling, with everyone just so happy and celebrating a terrific win. We will continue to work hard and progress. I am so happy that I was given a chance to be part of this team, which has so much talent, and it’s such a competitive group of guys. We will enjoy this win.”
Blue-and-white forward Solomon also shared his feelings about the win.
“This was great, taking four points from two of the best teams in the world. We came in with such confidence after we had drawn in Paris, and we prepared really well to meet our goals, which we did. I worked hard on defense, and I told the coach I would do anything for us to win, and that’s what we did. Now we have a few months off until World Cup qualifying begins.”
Solomon noted the difficulty of playing the French and Belgians back to back/
“When you play against France at the Stade de France, in order to get a point, you need a lot of good things to happen, and they did. We played well; we played great defensively. Offensively, we weren’t there, but Daniel Peretz made so many great saves. Against Belgium, we were evenly matched, and although they were a bit more dominant controlling the ball and pace of play, we showed that we were equal to them and created a number of opportunities. I’m happy that we won, and I think we deserved it.”
Peretz, Israel’s netminder, reflected on the victory with national pride.
“This was a great performance by the entire team, and we gave absolutely everything we had in these two games and set our goals. We really prepared well for these two matches, and we are so happy that there were fans here in Hungary cheering us on. We understand what kind of atmosphere this creates in the country, what kind of period our country is going through, and what it does for the people. We try to give them something good, something that they can smile about, even just a bit, while they are going through difficulties.
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
