Germany blanked Israel 2-0 in friendly action as the host scored a pair of first half goals to take the one-sided win. The blue-and-white were outclassed throughout the 90 minutes as Hansi Flick’s team had one chance after the next finding the back of Ofir Marciano’s goal near the end of the first half via Kai Havertz off a corner kick and Timo Werner via a free kick.

As the game headed towards full time each team was awarded a penalty but did not score when Thomas Muller hit the woodwork for Germany and Yonatan Cohen’s spot kick was saved by substitute keeper Kevin Trapp.

“We tried to cut down the gap between the two squads by our defense and we tried to find some counter attacks,” Israel interim coach Gadi Brumer said. “I just have to take off my hat to the player for the performance. They played well against one of the best teams in the world and now we will get ready for Romania at home.”

Earlier in the month Israeli legend Yossi Benayoun who played for Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal as well as a number of other acclaimed clubs was named the Israel’s technical director as the national team begins to remake itself after a four year stint in which Austrians Andreas Herzog and Willi Ruttensteiner led the blue-and-white. Benayoun will be tasked with bringing in a new head coach in time for Nations League action beginning in June as Israel will be in a group with Iceland, Albania and Russia although they are currently suspended from any UEFA activities.

The blue-and-white have never beaten Die Mannschaft having lost four times and drawn once. The last time the two sides met was back in May 2012 in Salzburg, Austria as the Germans downed Israel 2-0 in a one-sided affair.

Interim head coach Gadi Brumer’s squad featured ‘keeper Ofir Marciano, with defenders, Eli Dasa, Sean Goldberg, Nir Bitton and Sun Menachem in front of him while Muhammed Abu Fani, Aviv Avraham, Dor Peretz and Manor Solomon manned the midfield and Tai Baribo along with Monas Dabbur played up front.

Hansi Flick’s German side featured the likes of Manchester City star İlkay Gündoğan, Kai Havertz and Timo Werner from Chelsea along with Paris St. Germain’s Julian Draxler and Barcelona shot stopper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

The hosts controlled the pace of play early on as they dominated possession with chances from Draxler and Werner while Solomon for Israel moves into the box but was stymied by the German defense. Havertz had a brilliant chance in the area but Marciano pawed the ball to safety at the last second as the game hit the 30th minute while Werner followed that up with another pair of opportunities as the Chelsea duo peppered the Israeli keeper as the matchup remained goalless.

However, Havertz finally broke through in the 37th minute as the attacker headed home the ball with authority off a David Raum corner kick to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. As the blue-and-white tried to keep the deficit to just one goal ahead of the halftime break, Werner found the second marker off a Gündoğan free kick from right outside of the box to double the advantage for Flick’s crew to 2-0.

The second half saw Israel bring on Gaby Kanichowsky as the midfielder made his national team debut while Dabbur tried to pull a goal back with a brilliant chance in the 53rd minute but just came up short. Marciano came up big once again as he made the save on defender Thilo Kehrer’s opportunity and did the same off of Draxler’s chance from in close.

Kanichowsky made his way into the Germany box but was stopped cold by the defense but both Germany and Israel missed penalties by Thomas Muller and Yonatan Cohen respectively while both coaches made wholesale personnel changes the rest of the way as Germany picked up the victory.

The Israel Under- 21 National Team is also in action during the International break with a pair of games against Poland and Germany with both being played in Israel. Against Poland, Alon Hazan’s side fell behind 1-0 early on but came back to take a 2-1 lead late in the game thanks to goals by Celtic’s budding star Liel Abada and Omri Gendelman. However, the visitors were able to find the back of Daniel Peretz’s goal to catch a point as the game ended in a 2-2 draw.

The junior blue-and-white will now ready for Germany on Tuesday in what will be a head-to-head battle for first place in the group and automatic qualification for the 2023 European Championships.

Also in international play, the Under-19 team played to a goalless draw with Hungary and then beat Turkey 3-1 on a brace by Dor Turgeman.