The Israel National Team is raring to go to get their Nations League campaign underway as the blue-and-white will face Belgium on Friday night in League A where they will also meet Italy and France. One of the most important players who will be given his first real chance with the senior national team is Omri Gandelman who is playing for Gent in Belgium.

The 24-year old plays multiple positions and will be given a crucial role under new head coach Ran Ben Shimon as his flexibility gives Gandelman real added value either in the midfield or on the back line.

Although Gandelman is playing in Belgium after a number of seasons with Maccabi Netanya, he is still learning his upcoming foe, “I’m still learning the Belgians. They are a strong team with very high quality players. We have been studying them, but we always look at ourselves first and foremost.”

“In general, from a very young age, the Belgians hone their skills in academies with various coaches. Every transfer window, we see that many young players from the Belgian league progress and are sold to bigger clubs for large sums of money. The players are constantly developing and progressing and have a very good football culture in the country.”

Gandelman shared what he has been learning from his time in Belgium, “I myself also try to learn from the Belgian players and those who are on my team as well as from the staff as well. Gent is a very high quality club and I am trying to take in as much as I can in order to compete with all of the players on the squad. I feel very good playing against the Belgian players in terms of competition and it has helped me improve by skills.”

As for his goals now that he is with the national team, “Every child’s dream is to reach the senior team and do something big for the country and that is the goal of all of us here. We have the best tools available here from the players, the staff and really everything. I am full of confidence that we can succeed.”

Obviously for Gandelman, playing against the likes of Belgium, Italy and France will be challenging to say the least, “It is impossible to hide the fact that our opponents are very difficult, they are some of strongest in the world. But there is something in us as players and within the general atmosphere of the team that we will come into these games with no fear and without any type of feelings that we are inferior. We will be fearless and show our style of play under Ran Ben Shimon. We all want to play well and win, there is no player here who does not want to win and reach the highest levels that there are and we will show that.”

Gandelman knows that Ben Shimon will use his ability to play multiple positions to his advantage and will do what he needs to in order to help Israel reach its goals.

“To be able to play for the national team is a great honor and a childhood dream and I will do whatever is needed of me. Even when I arrived at Gent, the professional staff demanded one thing and here it may be that they want something else from me and that’s perfectly fine. I’m happy that I have a wide range of skills and that I can play several roles, it’s a very big advantage and I’m ready for any scenario.”