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After Making it to Semifinals at Under-20 World Soccer Cup in Argentina, Israel Falls to Uruguay, 1-0
Edited by: TJVNews.com
Israel’s dream of earning a spot in the finals of the Under-20 World Cup has sadly not been fulfilled.
I24News.com reported that the team made Israeli soccer history last week when it defeated Brazil 3-2 in the quarter-finals, after an epic match that went into overtime. On Thursday, however, Israel’s under-20 (U20) national soccer team was defeated by Uruguay 1-0 in the FIFA U-20 World Cup soccer semifinals match, bowing out of the tournament. The i24News report indicated that despite an evenly played first half, neither Israel nor the team from Uruguay could find the back of the net.
The game was finally won because of a second-half goal by Anderson Duarte of Uruguay, as was reported by the Israeli publication, Ha’Aretz.
Israel will now play the winner of the second semifinal, between Italy and South Korea, in the bronze-medal match scheduled for Sunday.
Israel’s progress to the semifinal of the most prestigious youth tournament in the soccer calendar was as stunning as it was unexpected, Haaretz reported. Starting the tournament with a painful 2-1 loss to Colombia, Israel recovered to grab a draw against Senegal in Match 2. Needing a win in the final group stage match against Japan, Israel overturned a 1-0 half-time deficit to win with a dramatic goal from Omer Senior – booking a round-of-16 game against Uzbekistan, according to the Haaretz report. Again, Israel left it late, with Anan Khalaili netting winner in the 97th minute.
Haaretz also reported that Israel reserved its best performance of the tournament for the quarterfinal matchup against Brazil, one of the pre-tournament favorites. Despite falling behind twice, Israel stunned the South American champions with two goals in extra time, including a contender for goal of the tournament by Dor Turgeman.
After the match in which Israel prevailed over soccer powerhouse Brazil, Israeli President Isaac Herzog thanked the team for its performance in Argentina. “You represent winning, talented, diverse and united Israeliness. You taught us a lesson in willpower, determination, courage and – most importantly – making dreams come true,” as was reported by Haaretz.
Also after defeating Brazil 3-2 in a major upset last weekend that delighted Israelis and Jews worldwide, JewishInsider.com reported that Eitan Dotan, the spokesperson for Israel’s team said, “It’s the biggest thing in Israeli sports in the last 30 years at least. Israel is a football country. Football is the biggest sport in Israel. Unfortunately, we don’t have lots of success in football.”
The JewishInsider.com report also indicated that the tournament was supposed to be hosted in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation and a country that most Israelis are unable to visit without a particular type of visa. But in March, FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, stripped Indonesia of its hosting duties after prominent government officials in the country said they would refuse to host the Israeli team.
