Israel fell to Paraguay 4-2 after conceding a pair late goals as the blue-and-white’s chances to advance to the knockout rounds took a severe hit following a draw to Mali in their opening game in Group D. Next up for Head Coach Guy Luzon’s squad is their third and final group game against Japan on Tuesday for a chance to move into the elimination portion of the tournament.

Photo credit: Israel Olympic Committee
“It hurts a lot, we gave everything until the last second,” Guy Luzon said following the game. “A tremendous second half by us, I don’t think we gave up for a moment. The first half was very difficult, we recovered in the second half, of course Paraguay is not a weak team. It’s very disappointing to concede a goal like that at the end, they took advantage of the physical advantage from a set piece.”
Luzon continued, “We played against a very strong opponent, but this game is already history. We won’t give up and we’ll keep going. We’re still alive and Japan is going to be very tough. Only those who are mentally strong can move on, we will come into the last group game with our heads held high.”

Photo credit: Israel Olympic Committee
Omri Gandelman spoke about the match as well, “Not an easy game, we fell behind, but we proved that there is a strong team here. We managed to get back to 2-2, but then for a second we had a lack of concentration. That’s soccer, but we shouldn’t have conceded the fourth goal. Now let’s hope for the best, we will come in against Japan with the goal of winning. We proved in the second half what we are capable of, as long as there is a chance we will do everything. Paraguay is an excellent team, they have many quality players.”
Fabian Fernandez scored the first goal off the contest in the 26th minute, but Israeli captain Omri Gandelman’s header drew the blue-and-white even at 1-1 early on in the second half. However, Julio Enciso scored to give Paraguay the lead once again, but Oscar Gloukh scored off of his own missed penalty shot in the 80th minute to draw Israel even once again but a pair of late goals by Fabian Balbuena and Marcelo Fernandez polished the game off in quick order in injury time to hand Paraguay the win.

Photo credit: Israel Olympic Committee
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