The Israel National Team faces Italy on Monday (21:45) in Nations League action in a game that is taking place in Udine. The blue-and-white are 0-3 in the campaign thus far after falling to France 4-1 last week in wat was a home game in Budapest due to the security situation in Israel.
Just ahead of the match, head coach Ran Ben Shimon and captain Dor Peretz shared their thoughts about what will be a heated contest with anti-Israel protest slated to take place at the stadium and around the city.
“We see everything, feel everything,” Ben Shimon began. “But I can only control what is in my hands. We prepare, we don’t complain and we don’t look at what’s wrong, but at how we get the best out of the existing situation, stay focused and do what is necessary. We have (security) people with us that are the best of the best guarding us. But we are concentrating on what we can do and on the sporting side, we are preparing for a game against a good team, I don’t have the ability to control the other things.”
The midfielder also spoke about what the team is expecting, “We have the right to enjoy a game that has will have fans and that’s what we will do. We will come in and enjoy the fact that there are spectators in the stands. At the end of the day, it’s the atmosphere of the game. The situation is not easy for us, playing football these days is difficult for us, but we want to give something good to the people of Israel, to make them feel proud. We have the privilege to do this, we have to concentrate on the game because that is our job, to give the best.”
Ben Shimon spoke about what he expects to see from the Italians, “It is extremely important for me to see progress in all parameters, that we will be competitive and that after the game we will all feel that there is some kind of line of progress that will eventually bring results. I am not ignoring the results, this is an important factor but I am certain that what we are doing now will lead to very good results in the future.”
Peretz also shared his thoughts about the Gli Azzuri, “The expectation from me and my teammates is to continue our journey and path, to do everything in order to also bring results, but this is another marker in our journey and we want to continue to see development and a united team.”
Ben Shimon spoke about the differences between the last game against France and Italy, “For each game we make changes and adjustments, Italy and France play differently, but the approach to the game will be the same. We played relatively well not only four days ago against France, but also in the previous game against Italy. There were minutes in which we were equal but again the important thing for me will be to see progress in all aspects of our game, I want to be very competitive, even in this tough group which is very difficult. I want us to stay in the game for the entire 90 minutes – I don’t like garbage time in sports.”
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