Israeli football has a good future! This is the leitmotif of the reviews of fans and the press on the events of Saturday evening, which happened not only in Moscow, but also in French Caen. Not only that, the tandem of young forwards Toto Tamuz and Amit Ben-Shoshan, who in the Jerusalem Beitar desperately fight for a place under the sun with expensive South Americans, saved the national team from defeat in Petrovsky Park. A few hours later, 17-year-old striker of London “Chelsea” Ben Saar and his partners in the youth team created the same small miracle in the away match of the playoffs of the European Championship against French peers! Without a doubt, Israel had a great football Saturday.
... During the break of the fight at Dynamo, the Israeli national team coach Dror Kashtan decided on two bold replacements and a redraw of tactics. And did not miscalculate. But a truly significant event, according to many Israelis, happened at the 75th minute when instead of Yossi Benayun Toto Tamuz stepped onto a Moscow lawn. This 18-year-old phenomenon, a native of Nigeria, was raised in an Israeli family from three years old, received citizenship only a few months ago, upon reaching adulthood. The dark-skinned guy has already managed to change his club registration, try on T-shirts for youth, youth and, finally, the national teams of the country, which he sincerely considers his native and is preparing to serve in the army in the near future.
Only eight minutes passed, and this substitution could be proclaimed the Chestnut grandmaster move. Tamuz and Ben-Shoshan carried out an assist. The Iron Curtain, as the Israeli press likes to dignify Igor Akinfeev, fell. The Israelis could well take the whole box office in Moscow, and dispose of the ball in the adult Ben Shoshan a few minutes later. In a post-match interview with Israeli television, Kashtan noted that these guys still have a lot to learn in modern football. The Israeli coach did not know about the violent skirmish between his two young pets, which occurred at the end of the match and, fortunately, ended in a cold world.
Kashtan could read about this already upon landing at the Ben-Gurion airport, if he opened the sports supplement to the daily newspaper “Maariv”. This edition was sold out: “10/7/2006: Israeli football raises its head.” The first U-turn, where the report on the Moscow match is posted, is entitled the adapted campaign slogan of Lieberman’s party: “Yes, Kashtan: Benayoun - OUT, Ben-Shoshan - IN”. The authors concluded that the main mistake of the coaching staff was the inclusion of the injured Benayun in the starting lineup. They believe that team interests should be above the desire to maintain the leadership status of leading players. In other words, in this situation, a cold calculation should prevail over emotions, despite the psychological component of the appearance of the captain on the field.
Journalists of the leading Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot released a 16-page Sunday sports supplement under the capacious but quite eloquent motto: “There is a future”, noting both the Moscow point of the main team and the French achievement of youth Guy Levy, which is tantamount to victory. The U-turn reserved for reporting from Moscow is directly addressed to the Dutch mentor of the Russians “Meet Hiddink - Toto Tammuz and Amit Ben-Shoshan”. Quote from there: “Nine years ago in the same stadium we lost 0-2, and one of the goals was scored by Alexei Kosolapov, who after a while transferred to Tel Aviv-based Maccabi. Today, the Russian national team players are playing in their homeland, and our team is taking a point from Moscow. ”
A special place is occupied by the author’s column of the ex-coach of the Israeli team Shlomo Sharf. It is designed mainly in critical tones. This specialist, who today, in addition to private business (export and sale of foreign cars) makes money as a football observer of various electronic and print media, has put his successor on the post of commander in chief of the national obstruction team. Reason: he did not have the courage to leave the patient unhealthy, and therefore not able to help Benayun’s team. The chestnut got a nut and for the fact that, in the opinion of the talkative Scarf, he could not make the correct diagnoses to Gershon and Badir. Those are far from being in the best shape and are not worthy of a place at the base.
One, but very sharp, arrow was also fired towards the rivals: “With all due respect to the impressive resume of Guus Hiddink, the Russian team in its present form, even under the leadership of the Dutchman, will not get to Euro 2008.”
It is worth noting the work of sports reporters of the newspaper "Haaretz", which considers reading matter for the intelligentsia. These guys, as in the pre-match reporting, did not change their attachments to song lyrics and as a heading for the Sunday issue presented the reader with a line from a popular hit: “We are a wonderful generation”.
Workers laptops and voice recorders were not without messages of a piquant nature. That the quarrel of two young heroes of the match did not escape their keen eyes, you already know. The ubiquitous sports reporters also report that after the match, football players, coaches, as well as the medical headquarters and technical staff of the team went to one of Moscow restaurants, owned by the owner of the Jerusalem “Beitar” Arkady Gaydamak.
When the captain of the Israeli team Yossi Benayoun left the field a quarter of an hour before the final whistle, the captain's armband passed from him to Valid Badir. For the first time in the history of Israeli football, a captain of Arab origin became the captain of the national team, albeit for a short segment of the match. Israeli Arabs in the current squad are two. In addition to Badir, this is his teammate in Tel Aviv “Hapoel” Salim Tuama. And in recent years, the honor of the national flag was defended by several other representatives of national minorities, among whom Abbas Xuan and Najuan Graeb.
The Israeli press also notes that, having achieved a draw yesterday in Petrovsky Park, the Promised Land team became the only team on the planet that did not know the bitterness of defeat in official matches for three years. The press did not pass over the financial side of the selection cycle. It is reported that an agreement has been reached with the leadership of the football federation on the amount of bonuses that will be accrued to the wards of Kashtan for success in Euro-battles. For example, for yesterday’s Moscow draw, the players of the national team will receive $ 2,500 each, for a victory on the road - $ 5,000 each, home Victoria will bring them $ 4,000 each. Interestingly, matches with Estonia and Andorra are not included in the prize classification. However, money, like tournament points, will be counted in Israel by the fall of 2007.
In an interview with Israeli TV channel Drora Kashtan, they asked what Guus Hiddink told him in a blitz dialogue after the final whistle. Chestnut, wrapping himself in a warm jacket with the emblem of the national federation, which replaced a wide-brimmed coat, and brushing off a drop of sweat from his face, told viewers: “He, like a true gentleman, congratulated me on the victory, and in response I wished him good luck in the future.” We will not write off the reservation of the patriarch of the Israeli coaching workshop for fatigue - this draw is indeed equivalent to victory.
Alex PRESKOVSKY