The Israel National Team played to a goalless draw against France in UEFA Nations League group play as the blue-and-white collected their first point of the campaign. Next up for Ran Ben Shimon’s squad is a “home” date with Belgium on Sunday in Hungary due to the security situation in Israel.

Ben Shimon’s team came into their 5th group stage game looking to record their first points in League A and were able to do exactly that thanks to incurable goalkeeping by Daniel Peretz by making no less than 8 incredible saves to keep a clean sheet and help Israel to the valuable point that may help them seed higher when 2026 World Cup qualification groups are drawn in December.

“On the professional side, you can’t ask for more,” a thrilled Ben Shimon said following the match. “Maybe we could have just been sharper in our passing when going on the attack. After a game like this it’s difficult to concentrate only on the sporting aspect. We felt the support of the national team’s fans and those who came here from the community. It’s exciting.”

The coach continued to talk about security, “Seeing the head of the Shin Bet in the dressing room before a game is ridiculous, but everything we’ve been going through in the last year or so is just crazy. The security personnel are here day and night guarding us and are awake when we sleep. This is the time and place to thank them for their work. Thanks to the French authorities for providing security, giving us the respect we deserve and hosting us amazingly. The presence of all the presidents of course, Sarkozy, Hollande and Macron, thank you very much.”

The coach returned to focus on football, “First point in the League of Nations, first game where we didn’t concede a goal. This was quite the battle and sacrifice by our players who also played outstanding minutes. We have very serious guys, everyone who saw the game feels that there is a team here that wants to win and bring pride to the people. On the other hand, I’ve been talking all along that the goals are not to score points in this group, but the goals are to continue to improve, to see a team come together cohesive team that invests and understands the game and that plays football everywhere.”

“Today we achieved these two goals, I have no doubt that we had better football matches, but today we achieved more than this point. First of all we we came close to the people who came here and saw us play and those who will continue to believe in us. we brought pride to the Jewish community that sent so many people here, no matter how much they tried to make this game dangerous, they came in droves and supported us, it was really heartwarming.”

“The French team has exceptional qualities,” the bench boss continued. “We saw it in this game. It’s an experience to see them play and we were able to stand up to them. It is true that Daniel Peretz gave us a great game and saved us, but we are talking about a process and today we saw progress. There is still a way and there is something to move forward, we are on our way there.”

The coach referred to the performances of his players, “I will go beyond my rules and praise a specific player. I want to give a good word to Mahmoud Jaber who had a heroic game. I also mentioned Daniel Peretz, I have no doubt that he proved his worth to those who need the proof. Beyond his ability, he has an outstanding personality. He showed amazing abilities. For me it’s not a surprise, I expect a lot from him and I can say that everything you see from him is the product of hard work, of endless professionalism and also of an extraordinary personality and kudos to him for the game.”

“We played a good game here, very tactical. We took our first point in the Nations League. A good job by the players. The central defenders, the midfield, those on teh attack. Everyone did a good job. We were all synchronized and the three central defenders were wonderful. This was a game without any mistakes,” concluded the national coach.

Daniel Peretz also spoke about the game, “I had a lot of fun, I missed playing, especially representing the country and being with my teammates. I have to say a good word to all the people who came, a lot came, we didn’t expect so many people who pushed us, encouraged us and gave us so much support and it was fun to make them happy.”

The Bayern Munich goalkeeper continued on his performance, “I played as well as any player on the team today. We played against one of the best teams in the world and we really needed every player to exceed 90 minutes of play.”

“In my role, you get more attention for a good game, but really every player on the team played an amazing game and I’m so proud of them. We gave our hearts, physically finished players from what they did and gave, tactical discipline, we followed the whole game plan and I’m really happy,” continued Peretz.

This was no doubt a message to Bayern Munich who have not played Peretz as a regulate #1 goalkeeper, “I am in shape because I work very, very hard and I am happy that I had the opportunity to come and show my abilities. We have another game already on Sunday, I’m concentrating on that. We need to maintain continuity by combing and giving everything.”

Manor Solomon who was back in action spoke about his time away from teh game with an injury, “I went through a very difficult period that I haven’t opened up about yet and I haven’t said what I went through. If you had asked me six months ago, I didn’t know if I would return to playing football. I had many complications, things that they didn’t know exactly what I had and if I could return to play, they didn’t know what I had, everything would seem normal. Now I’m happy that I’m healthy and slowly coming back to myself.”

Solomon continued talking about the game, “You all saw that we gave everything today, especially on the defensive end. Obviously this is a big result, we even wanted a little more. It was very difficult offensively but defensively we did what we could. Glad we kept a clean sheet in France against one of the best teams in the world. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes so we could play football. We saw a lot of Israeli flags and it was a lot of fun.”

On the conversation with the head of the Shin Bet, Ronan Bar, before the game, “It gave us a lot of confidence. We have a lot of security people with us, but suddenly the head of the Shin Bet is coming, it’s a statement. It gave us confidence to concentrate solely on football.”

Towards the next game he said, “We did it, we are happy and want to be happy about it, take all the good things and improve the offensive part. I’m sure me and my teammates can be better and we’ll come into the Belgium match to take points.”