{"id":21771,"date":"2020-10-14T21:46:45","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T21:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/?p=21771"},"modified":"2020-11-26T13:04:33","modified_gmt":"2020-11-26T13:04:33","slug":"israel-stuns-slovakia-3-2-on-zahavi-hat-trick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israel-stuns-slovakia-3-2-on-zahavi-hat-trick\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel Stuns Slovakia 3-2 On Zahavi Hat-Trick In Shocking Comeback Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel stunned Slovakia 3-2 in UEFA Nations League play as Eran Zahavi scored a second half hat-trick to help the blue-and-white comeback from a 2-0 deficit to take the victory in Trnava. Head Coach Willi Ruttensteiner\u2019s squad gave up a pair of early goals as Marek Hamsik scored on a free kick while Robert Mak doubled the advantage soon thereafter. <\/p>\n

However, an incident just as the halftime whistle sounded that almost led to blows between Zahavi and his attacking partner Monas Dabbur lit the team on fire going into the second half as EZ7 scored a trio of goals, via a header, right foot and left foot to shock the hosts and snatch the unlikely victory on foreign soil.
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Israel Football Association<\/p><\/div>
\nThe blue-and-white picked up the 3 points to move their Nations League B Group 2 record to one win, two draws and a loss good for third place behind group leader\u2019s Scotland and the Czech Republic as they will now have to wait until November for their final two group games. Israel will play away at the Czech Republic on November 15th and will then host Scotland three days later at the Netanya Stadium before the Israel National Team heads into standard World Cup 2022 qualifying.<\/p>\n

The win over Slovakia was Israel’s first victory since October 15, 2019 when the blue-and-white defeated Latvia 3-1 while the club\u2019s last away victory was also against Latvia in June of that same year.
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Israel Football Association<\/p><\/div>
\n“This was a great game and we were the better team,\u201d a thrilled Zahavi said following the game. \u201cWe should have been leading earlier on and we could have scored even more to make this an easier win. I’m here to work as hard as I can and score goals for Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zahavi then referenced the halftime time clash with teammate Monas Dabbur, “We were very upset and we had been running a lot. We cursed at each other but when we went into the dressing room we sorted out the issues. Sometimes it\u2019s good that there are emotions in the National Team and we all show that we care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dabbur also spoke about putting the incident aside very quickly, \u201cHe\u2019s a star and it\u2019s great that we have him with us, but sometimes things just don\u2019t fo the way you want them to. That\u2019s the story of the striker. I\u2019m thrilled that he scored a hat-trick and perhaps I will have to light him up every game at halftime.\u201d
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Israel Football Association<\/p><\/div>
\nHead Coach Willi Ruttensteiner reflected on the victory, \u201cThis was a good win and it\u2019s always great to be able to comeback from a two goal deficit. I\u2019m proud of my players and this was an excellent game in my eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The blue-and-white made a number of changes to the starting lineup that featured in the past couple of games against Scotland in the European Championship Playoffs and in their National League clash at home versus the Czech Republic, as central defender Oral Dagani and defensive back Maor Kandil entered the fray for the squad. They joined keeper Ofir Marciano, defenders Sheran Yeini, Eitan Tibi and Eli Dasa while the midfield featured captain Bibras Natcho, Eyal Golasa and Manor Solomon as Monas Dabbur and Eran Zahavi started up front.
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Israel Football Association<\/p><\/div>
\nBoth Israel and Slovakia had chances over the opening ten minutes but the host captain Marek Hamsik who was a stalwart in Italy\u2019s Serie A with Napoli but now currently playing his cub football in China, broke the ice with a free kick that found its way behind an out of place Marciano to take a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute. Twenty five minutes later, Robert Mak sent a gorgeous curler into the Israel goal to give Slovakia a two goal lead as the squads headed into halftime.<\/p>\n

As the players left the field, Israel\u2019s second choice keeper Ariel Harush had to separate Monas Dabbur and Eran Zahavi as the pair almost got into a sparring match going down to the dressing room.
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Israel Football Association<\/p><\/div>
\nHowever, the emotions at the end of the first 45 minutes spilled over into the second half for the good as Israel looked fresh and focussed. Ruttensteiner brought on Ofri Arad for Yeini to start the second half while Neta Livi replaced Natcho soon thereafter as the bench boss\u2019s moves substitutions began to pay dividends. Solomon sent a pinpoint perfect corner kick right into the box that Zahavi headed home with authority to cut the Slovakia lead to 2-1 in the 68th minute.<\/p>\n

Encouraging his team on, Zahavi worked his magic eight minutes later when he directed home a Golasa pass with his left foot in the box to draw the blue-and-white even as Israel continued to press for a winner which would come in the 89th minute.
\n

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Israel Football Association<\/p><\/div>
\nAn active Golasa then handed the ball off to Zahavi who sent a scorching rocket into the top left hand corner of the goal to set off the celebrations as Israel secured their first victory and 3-points in this season\u2019s Nations League.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israel stunned Slovakia 3-2 in UEFA Nations League play as Eran Zahavi scored a second half hat-trick to help the blue-and-white comeback from a 2-0 deficit to take the victory in Trnava. Head Coach Willi Ruttensteiner\u2019s squad gave up a pair of early goals as Marek Hamsik scored on a free kick while Robert Mak […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":21772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,30],"tags":[58,29],"class_list":["post-21771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football-israel-2","category-israel-national-team-football-israel-2","tag-eran-zahavi","tag-israel","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nIsrael Stuns Slovakia 3-2 On Zahavi Hat-Trick In Shocking Comeback Win - Sports Rabbi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/israel-stuns-slovakia-3-2-on-zahavi-hat-trick\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Israel Stuns Slovakia 3-2 On Zahavi Hat-Trick In Shocking Comeback Win - Sports Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Israel stunned Slovakia 3-2 in UEFA Nations League play as Eran Zahavi scored a second half hat-trick to help the blue-and-white comeback from a 2-0 deficit to take the victory in Trnava. 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