Israel finished off their Under 21 Euro Tournament with a nice 1-0 victory over favored England who crash out of the tournament with a total of 1 goal on a penalty, 3 losses & 0 points! Israel comes away with 4 points a win, a draw and a loss.
The Good:
Israel took the bull by the horns in their final game and came away with a 1-0 win on an 81st minute goal by Beitar Jerusalem’s Ofir Krieff to snatch the 3 points from Stuart Pearce’s English squad. Israel played a team game in Jerusalem and kudos to the fantastic crowd of over 22,000 that came out to see the future stars of Israeli & English Football. The fans were into the match, many families and children in the stands as well as an amazing wave that went throughout! The match began on a high and ended in the same fashion.
Avi Luzon with my boys!
Congratulations go to Avi Luzon, Israel Football Association Chairman who was able to bring the tournament to Israel and for putting the fannies in the seats that had not been there for the first two matches in Jerusalem. But not only that, he has put Israel in a serious position within UEFA and that is a good thing to be able to have influential power from within. As well, over the past few years better stadiums and facilities have been built throughout the country and any sports fan has to be thankful for that as well.
The Bad:
England. They did not perform whatsoever for the fans. They could not score. They played long ball throughout the tournament and were a massive disappointment.
The Ugly:
The English FA for not sending a proper squad like countries such as Italy, Spain & Holland. Plenty of eligible players ended up playing in meaningless friendlies for the Brits and should have been at Stuart Pearce’s disposal. That was a big shame.
The Good:
Good for both clubs to have advanced and it was a chance to see some of the bench players in action as well. Italy picked up the last minute goal by Genoa property Andrea Bertolacci to come away with a draw in a game they dominated after giving up a 90th minute penalty to Stefan Strandberg.
The Bad:
Why did the fans have to wait for 90 minutes to finally see some goals? I hope no one left early because if they did they would have missed a fancy finish.
The Ugly:
Unfortunately this was the last match of the group and I would have love to have seen Israel & Italy play again against any teams!
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