The Israel National Team once again fell in Nations League group play by the score of 4-1 this time to Italy in Udine thanks to a brace by Giovanni Di Lorenzo as the blue-and-white were left empty handed once again. With the defeat, Head Coach Ran Ben Shimon’s squad saw their record drop to 0-4 in the bench boss’s first campaign with just two game remaining in League A play that are slated for November in the final international window ahead of 2026 World Cup qualifying.

In an emotional moment prior to the game, almost all of the Italian fans at Stadio Fruli in Udine cheered the Israel National Anthem HaTikva in support of the Jewish State leaving many of the blue-and-white contingent teary eyed as the war in the Holy Land continues on and hostages are still being held captive by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

HATIKVA a Udine.
Pochi fischiano ma subito tutto lo stadio risponde con gli applausi forti durante l’inno.
Italia ti vogliamo bene

״התקווה״ באודינה
בודדים שורקים בוז ואז אלפי איטלקים מגיבים
במחיאות כפיים לאורך כל ההמנון.
Italia ti amamiamo🇮🇹@Azzurri_En @Azzurri pic.twitter.com/GmX2U5uxsR

— ISRAEL FA (@ISRAELFA) October 14, 2024

Israel played Italy tight out of the gate but as the first half neared its end, Dor Peretz tripped up Sandro Tonali in the box handing the hosts a penalty that Mateo Retegui converted beating keeper Omri Glazer with a stutter step and top corner blast for a 1-0 lead at the break. Giovanni Di Lorenzo doubled the advantage early on in the second half when he headed home a stunning free kick by Giacomo Raspadori as the ball just made it past an outstretched Glazer for a 2-0 lead in 54th minute.

Muhamed Abu Fani pulled a goal back when his corner kick curled into the Gli Azzuri net and behind second choice keeper Guglielmo Vicario to cut the lead to 2-1 but just minutes later, Italy regained the two goal advantage when Davide Fratessi slammed home a Federico Dimarco pass. Luciano Spalletti’s side polished off the match when Di Lorenzo completed a brace off a Destiny Udogie ball for a 4-1 victory.

Israel Head Coach Ran Ben Shimon began his press briefing about the support from the Italian faithful prior to the match, “The truth is that it was very exciting. We stood during the anthem and heard the applause from the majority of the spectators. We really have to give kudos to the hosts.”

“We also lost 4-1 against France but we were in that game until the 89th minute,” Ben Shimon explained about the game that was. “Against Italy, it was more difficult. You can see Spalletti’s hand on this team and when they play like they did tonight it becomes really difficult for the opponents. I try to look at the bigger picture. We learned a lesson from a quality Italian side. For many minutes we were still in the game, in the second half we tired both physically and tactically, we started going backwards. I have no complaints, we tried, there was a good structure, we learned a lesson from Italy.”

The blue-and-white tactician continued, “We had a feeling that we could stay with these big teams in our group, Belgium, France and Italy and for many minutes we did manage to do that. There wasn’t a game in this campaign that we weren’t in it from start to finish. These quality minutes should be appreciated. In the next window there will be players who will return to our squad, we will be able to innovate more, but these games are really being played at a very high level. Italy is experiencing a renaissance, a reawakening. A super high quality team and it deserves a lot of compliments for the way they played. We will continue to move forward and work hard and we have to take the fact that there were many minutes where I really liked what I saw from the team.”

“We created plenty of chances and we could have scored more goals,” Italian bench boss Luciano Spalletti said. “It wasn’t easy to find space but we created good openings anyway. Everybody did what they had to do today. We were a team; everyone who came in did well. We might have scored more, but that’s OK.”

The man of the match, Italian defender Giovanni Di Lorenzo looked back at his side’s win, “It was exciting to wear the captain’s armband and to score two goals is something beautiful. It was an exciting evening which I will remember for the rest of my life. Tough times come to all players and I had a few last season. This match was difficult, but we made it look easy because we played very well. This is a great squad and even the new players are making a great contribution.”

Omri Glazer, Israel’s shot stopper also reflected on the match, “I made a few good saves but football is not an individual sport. It was very difficult to play against this Italy side, who were excellent. We are in a difficult group with three of the best teams in Europe and we are learning from every game. Our goal is to qualify for big tournaments and these games against top teams can certainly help us.”

Dor Peretz, who wore the captain’s armband in place of the injured Eli Dasa commented, “When you face these kinds of teams you have to score whenever you get a chance. We had a couple of half chances in the first half when it was still 0-0 but unfortunately we did not manage to put the ball into the net. In the second half Italy were incredible and made it very difficult for us.”