Hapoel Beer Sheva defeated Kairat Almaty 2:0 in the first leg of their second round Europa League qualifying tie at Turner Stadium in Israel’s southern capital. Ramzi Safuri opened the scoring in the 9th minute with a first half penalty due to a hand ball in the box to give the hosts a 1:0 lead. Eden Shamir found the back of the goal on a second half header thanks to a brilliant cross by Ben Bitton to give Beer Sheva the 1st leg victory. A lengthy trip to Kazakhstan is now on tap for Head Coach Barak Bachar’s squad for the return leg on Thursday night.
“There’s no question that this was a good result,” exclaimed Bachar following the first leg win. “Keeping a clean sheet against a quality opponent is terrific and we were a bit lucky that we didn’t give up a goal. however, on the other side we could have scored even more. Now we have to seal the deal in Kazakhstan which won’t be simple. If their disallowed goal would have counted, everything would have been different.”
Maccabi Haifa fell in France to Strasbourg 3:1 in their first leg second round Europa League matchup. After controversy led up to the start of the game by the local French authorities allowing the display of Israeli flags or not at the game, Marko Balbul’s side took a 1:0 first half lead but then gave up three unanswered goals.
The Greens held a 1:0 lead thanks to a 39th minute goal by Maxim Plakushchenko thanks to a Nikita Rukavysta assist however, just a few minutes later everything went south for the northern squad. Defender Ayad Habshi was shown red for pulling down Da Costa Joia in the box which led to a penalty goal by Ludovic Ajorque just before the half-time break which was followed up by a quick second goal just two minutes into the second half by Adrien Thomasson. Jonas Martin then added the final strike in the 62nd minute to head into Israel with the advantage ahead of the second leg on Thursday night at Sammy Ofer Stadium.
“Up until Habshi was dismissed we were playing well,” a disappointed Balbul remarked. “Once we lost a player we had a tough time and they pressed us. Even with ten men I was expecting to battle and create some chances and we barely were able to do that. However, I’m proud of the guys and we will get back at it at with our home crowd on Thursday.”
Israel Baseball began their best of 3 game series against Lithuania for the final spot in the European Championships. In Friday’s Jerusalem Post, The Sports Rabbi spoke to Blake Gailen who earned MVP honors earlier in July helping the Blue & White advance to the playoffs versus Lithuania.
Mike Schmitz who is a draft analyst for ESPN spoke to The Sports Rabbi about the process of finding a basketball star, what it’s like to follow a young and up coming baller from a very early age along with the prospects for Deni Avdija, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Israel’s prodigy and the FIBA U20 Tournament that just ended in Tel Aviv.
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England defeated Israel 10-7 in the Women’s European Championship held in Israel. By finishing second the Blue & White automatically qualify for the world championship in 2021 in the USA. David Lasday Lacrosse Association CEO: “They gave it their all. We’ve built something special and this is not the end but just the beginning.” Arik Kaplan Ayelet Federation President: “The Israel National Team proved that Lacrosse is alive and well in the State of Israel. This is an amazing accomplishment, a team that beat some of the greats.”
Israel Baseball defeated Lithuania 12-2 to grab a 1-0 lead in their best of 3 series for the final spot in September’s European Championships! Bob Paller hit a pair of homers & knocked in 4 RBIs!

Great news as the Israel 4 x 200 Men’s Swimm Team booked their ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics! Mazel Tov Tomer Frankel, Gal Cohen Groumi, Daniel Namir, Denis Loktev met the criteria! Miron Heruti will also be going to Tokyo as he met the criteria for the 50 meter freestyle.
Israel U18 defeated Norway 93-46 as they open up Division B with a victory as they attempt to move up to Div A. Noam Dovrat led the way with 24 points, Raziel Hayun added 12 points and Itay Geva clocked in with 11 assists in the win.
Transactions
Lior Eliyahu, Noah Richardson and Carmel Bouchman all join Maccabi Ashdod BC.
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