Once every few years, the Israeli national team gear up for a match described as the “most important game we’ve ever had”.
This time it was in the UEFA Nations League, where a chance to qualify for a play-off spot for Euro 2024 was on the cards.
Four years ago, they were close but, ultimately, a 3-2 loss against Scotland in Glasgow on the last matchday of the tournament saw Israel narrowly miss out.
Fast forward and, again, they find themselves in a similar situation. Albania traveled to Tel Aviv for a sold out match at Bloomfield Stadium, with the Israelis hoping to nab the group’s top spot.
Bloomfield was sold out before this important match of Israel against Albania (Nicole Liberman)
Usually, Israel starts big games nervously, and they looked like that in the first half - confused and unimpressive.
They weren’t helped by the absence of two key players. Manor Solomon, now with Fulham, was injured at the start of the season, and Eran Zahavi, the national team's top goalscorer, wasn't called-up after a dispute with the sporting director, Yossi Benayoun.
Manager Alon Hazan tried to find a solution, and turned his attention towards his trusted striker, Shon Weissman. The Real Valladolid striker had a chance to be in the lineup, and took it. After a goalless first half, Weissman found the net within a minute of the second kicking off.
Shon Weissman, got his chance and scored the first for Israel (Nicole Liberman)
Israel had taken the lead, and looked close to scoring more, but failed to capitalize. Just three minutes from time, Albania made them pay - Myrto Uzuni hammered home a long-range strike.
“If I was watching this goal at home, I would stand up and clap", Hazan said in a press conference after the match.
But his side didn’t give up, something we rarely see from Israel in these big matcheese. In the second minute of indeed time, a mistake by the Albanian defence saw Tai Baribo with the ball in the box, and he put home a late winner.
Moments of joy for the Israeli fans after the winning goal (Nicole Liberman)
This Nations League mission was successful for Israel. They’ve officially finished in first place in their group, and clinched a spot in the play-offs for Euro 2024.
On top of that, they’ve secured promotion to League A for the next campaign.
Hazan appears confident in his squad’s ability to do well in the future too, “we are building something together, and I believe in our power and skills to do something greater than we’ve ever done”.
With this optimism, even the biggest pessimist fan of Israel can start to dream about a place in Euro 2024.
The final whistle is the beginning for Israel’s next mission (Nicole Liberman)
