After drawing with Mali 1-1 in Olympic soccer action, the blue-and-white will need to come away with a win on Saturday night when they face Paraguay who fell to Japan 5-0 in the opening game of Group D action.

While Head Coach Guy Lzuon’s squad had some solid moments in their first Olympic soccer game since 1976, conceding a goal less than ten minutes after having taken the lead in the second half could have been devastating but Israel was able to pull it together and walk out of Parc de Princes with a point.

There were some major concerns due to security threats heading into Israel’s opening event at the Olympics, however, the amount of French police and other personnel securing the event was at astonishing levels around Parc des Princes. Following the Uzbekistan and Spain game the amount of police outnumbered the fans around the stadium as only a few minor incidents were reported to have occurred.

Many Israelis and French Jews with Israeli flags marched proudly into the facility and made sure to make their presence felt inside the stadium when Hatikva, Israel’s national anthem was played despite some in the crowd trying to drown it out with boos.

There were numerous Israeli dignitaries in attendance including President Isaac Herzog and Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar along with judo coach Oren Smadja and flag bearer Peter Paltchik.

Omri Gandelman as well as a number of other players spoke about the contest, “Tough game, I think it could have gone either way,” the captain began. “We led 1-0 and we couldn’t hold on to it. In the end, we played more defensively and kook the draw. We tried to win from the get go, but this point can take us forward and we will come into the next game with the goal of winning it.”

The Gent midfielder continued, “We played against a good team. The game plan worked quite well in the beginning, but on the defensive side we were a bit off and lethargic although we made corrections in the second half. I believe we will come into the Paraguay game and do a good job. The fact that they lost? Every game will be difficult in one way or another. It’s a different game and in any match anything can happen. We will concentrate on ourselves.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Osher Davida added, “I think it’s a bit of a miss because we could have won. This is not a bad result, because on paper everyone thought that we would lose, but we showed that we are are at the same level as they are. We had some good situations and it’s disappointing to draw. We knew that Mali was a typical African team, strong and fast. We knew that if we came in organized and didn’t give them the space to use their advantages then we wouldn’t lose.”

“It’s a tough feeling because unfortunately we conceded seven minutes after we had taken the lead,” Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Ido Shahar explained. “We needed to have a little more concentration, because the minutes after the goal are the most important. If we hadn’t given up a goal, they would start sending players forward. But everything at this point is in hindsight.”

“I think we have proven that we belong here,” Shachar confused. “I had no idea what the commentators were saying. In the end we come from a small country and I don’t think we are favorites in any game and we shouldn’t think so either. But in the end I think we were on equal footing with them. We can beat any team and we will come to beat every team.”