Israel defeated Estonia 3-1 as Dan Bitton scored a brace in FIFA World Cup qualifying action in Tallinn. With the win, the blue-and-white swept the two contests against Estonia and moved into second place in Group I with a record of 2-1. Israel’s lone loss came versus Norway back in March who top the group three victories after convincingly dropping Italy 3-0 in the current window of matches.

Both sides had chances early on but it was the hosts who would find the back of the goal first as Mattias Kait beat Bayer Munich keeper Daniel Peretz to give Estonia a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute. However, Israel countered very quickly and drew even when Dor Turgeman gave Dan Bitton a perfect ball to put into the Estonia goal as the sides headed into the break all knotted up at 1-1.

Israel came out of halftime firing on all cylinders and grabbed the lead when Bitton scored his second goal of the game off a Manor Solomon cross in the 49th minute while Muhammed Abu Fani added a late penalty after Dor Peretz was yanked down in the box to take the 3-1 win.

Israel will now head to Debrecen where they will welcome Slovakia for a friendly in Hungary where Head Coach Ran Ben Shimon will have an opportunity to see some of the younger players in the squad in action. The next World Cup qualifiers will take place in September when Israel will pay Moldova and Italy.

“We did it,” Ben Shimon began following the game. “From a sporting perspective, these players deserve respect. They came to play here after a long season and these June games are difficult. We fell behind against a tough team and we came back. It’s a great sporting achievement. However, it was a very difficult day for the country after the loss of some of our soldiers. I saw the sadness in their eyes and I knew that these are the guys I want to go to battle with. If we made the soldiers smile with the win, then it’s worth everything. This victory is dedicated to them.”

“This game is completely different from the last one,” a frustrated Estonia Head Coach Jurgen Henn said. “It’s true that the result is similar, but the level of football we played was completely different. Ten minutes that started at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second cost us as we were naive and even childish. The two goals we conceded were too easy at this level.”

Manor Solomon, who will be getting married in the near future was thrilled with the win, “This is a wonderful wedding gift but it is mixed with joy and sadness. We came into the game after the news of the incident in Gaza and every piece of news like that is a knife into our hearts. It was difficult for us to come into the game like that. Add to that the recent loss of Gadi Kinda and it is not easy. I don’t like when we fall behind in a game and it happens to us a lot, but I am very happy that we were able to come back. I expect us to be better. We need to be better and improve for the next game.”

Keeper Daniel Peretz added, “We didn’t want to concede, but our ability to come back from a deficit is something that is encouraging, against a team that is not easy like Estonia. I’m proud of the guys. We went into the game with sadness after the horrible news and I want to express my sympathy to the families who lost loved ones.”