ONE System |
Youth team players celebrate (Photo by Seb Day – UEFA via Sportsfile)
Israel’s youth team is without a doubt one of the best that have been here. The blue-and-whites of Ofir Haim are so far presenting a great campaign in the Euros until the age of 19, when tonight (Wednesday) this was reflected in a huge 2: 4 victory over the Austrian team.
In doing so, the youth team temporarily reached the top of House 2, but soon lost it to the English team that defeated Serbia 0: 4 and secured its place in the European Championship semi-finals. Still, it seems that the victory of the Three Lions team is the greatest gift that Ofir Haim’s team could have received.
The reason? England’s victory significantly pushed Serbia away from Israel in the promotion to the playoffs, as they are already three points away from us one round to go. This means that Serbia’s goal difference is now minus 4, while Israel is in plus 2. In other words, Serbia will have to beat Austria by a very large margin and hope for a huge Israeli defeat against England in order to qualify for the playoffs at its expense.
In fact, Israel’s draw or victory against England in the final round will guarantee the team its place in the playoffs. In addition, even if Israel does not finish between the first two places at home, the place that the third will fight with the third place in the corresponding house for the place at the World Championships in Indonesia – so Israel in any case guaranteed itself a real chance to be there.
In doing so, it seems that the blue-and-white team is a foot and a half into the playoffs, with the broader meaning that finishing between one of the first four teams means qualifying for the upcoming World Cup. If indeed the young players do it, especially considering that now it seems very realistic, it will be an unprecedented achievement for Israeli football.
And with all the enthusiasm and the Israeli context, there was also football. A pair of Dayan Scarlat (5, 40) and goals from Karni Chukwamka (68) and Daniel Javison (90 + 1) finally settled for the excellent Brits in the playoffs with six points out of six possible.
