00:00The Israeli national team loses to Austria 3-1 in a match that feels like a kind of broken record
00:03for Israeli soccer.
00:04The same thing all over again.
00:05On one hand, unnecessary mistakes in defense.
00:08On the other hand, we didn't really show any particularly good attacking soccer here,
00:11even though we started with an offensive lineup.
00:12And thirdly, this is the strongest team in the group,
00:14and this is a match that at least on paper, we weren't supposed to win,
00:17but we definitely could have come away with some points.
00:19Yes, let's put the result aside for the moment.
00:21We lost here 3-1, and of course, in the end, when it comes down to the result, Israel didn't
00:24succeed.
00:25But in my opinion, until Abu Fahy's goal, we held up pretty well against the Austrian national team.
00:28Even though we didn't create many chances, defensively, we managed to hold up just fine.
00:32Until there was a defensive mistake that led to the penalty.
00:34It's soccer. It can happen. We can keep blaming our defense.
00:37But that's what we have, and with that, we need to win, and with that, we managed to hold up
00:41well.
00:41The thing I do credit Ranben Shimon for throughout his time with the national team
00:45is the fact that even though we're losing in this game, there are still ideas here that I can relate
00:48to.
00:49I can at least understand where he's coming from with them,
00:51and he doesn't have some kind of rigid style of play, even when it doesn't work,
00:54and we need to talk about that too.
00:55Because in this game, the Israel national team played with Anam Halali as a kind of winger,
00:59even though you can see that his average position at the end of the game was behind Gim Izrahi,
01:03but that's because I think Gim Izrahi was substituted at some point, and Anam Halali wasn't.
01:08In addition, the team played without a player in the classic number 6 position,
01:11the player who's supposed to be the playmaker a bit further back.
01:13The one who did play in that position was Eliel Perez, and in my opinion, he did a very good
01:17job.
01:17The idea of trying to put Abu Fahy in a slightly more left-sided position,
01:21meaning maybe not exactly as a central striker, you could see that many times even when he wasn't touching the
01:25ball.
01:26He played a bit more to the left, simply to keep the right side open,
01:28for Dorperets to make overlaps to go forward like he knows how, it just didn't work in this game.
01:32But in the first half, until the penalty, I have to say I was pretty satisfied,
01:35because except for one chance the Austrians had after a short corner,
01:38they didn't really have any exceptional chances.
01:40There was good defensive cover for Astojano, and he missed quite a bit in the defensive party the first half,
01:44but there were other players who covered for him, until of course, you know,
01:47the first mistake that basically opened the floodgates and gave the Austrians the 1-0.
01:50We knew how to respond at the start of the second half, we also, from a set-piece,
01:54in a situation honestly I have to say that started pretty similar to how the Austrians got to their best
01:58chance,
01:58except for the penalty in the first half, which ended in a goal.
02:00In my opinion, an excellent goal by Abu Fahy, who manages to jump over his defender,
02:04and even takes the ball high, over the goalkeeper, with a bit of a curve to get it over him,
02:07a goal really excellent individual skill.
02:09And that's coming from someone who wouldn't have started Abu Fahy in the lineup.
02:12Apparently Ranben Shimon believed in him, and he delivered big time.
02:15But it's impossible not to mention the second yellow card he got healed,
02:18and I don't like to complain about the referees too much, it's part of the game,
02:20you have to deal with it, and the team almost died with it very well.
02:23But it has to be said, he didn't deserve either of the yellow cards.
02:26Because everyone is talking about Abu Fahy's second yellow card, but with the first yellow,
02:29pay attention, Roy Revivo, during the shoving between Abu Fahy and Danso,
02:32puts his hand on Abu Fahy and also gives him a push,
02:35while Abu Fahy is getting a two-handed hug from Danso,
02:37who throws him to the ground, pulls off a judo throw, and somehow the referee decides on this.
02:40Yellow card for both Danso and Abu Fahy.
02:42Danso himself was in shock, he looked at Revivo, pointed at him and said,
02:45Hey, you crook, you're the one responsible for everything that happened here,
02:48because you're the one who pushed Abu Fahy with both hands.
02:51The smile he gave Revivo here says it all, and more than anything, also Abu Fahy's reaction.
02:55He couldn't believe he was the one getting the yellow card.
02:57And from here it's a known ending, because Abu Fahy gets the second yellow after his celebration,
03:00when he takes the corner flag and pretends it's a snooker cue.
03:02The referee apparently saw it as an imitation of a rifle,
03:05even though the imitation of a rifle wasn't directed at the fans,
03:07it was towards the field, not at any player, not at any fan,
03:10behind the Israel national team's fans,
03:11because the referee defined it as an excessive celebration.
03:13But my indication that the celebration wasn't excessive,
03:16and that the referee exaggerated,
03:17is first of all the body language and behavior of the Austrian players.
03:20If Abu Fahy had taken off his shirt,
03:22all the Austrian players would have immediately run to the referee and said,
03:24Give him a second yellow.
03:26That's a clear second yellow, that's well known in the rules.
03:28If taking out the corner flag was something well known in the rules that everyone was aware of,
03:31or if the players felt there was an excessive celebration here,
03:34they would have gone to the referee, even the Austrian players were shocked.
03:36So in short, I really don't like to blame referees,
03:37but listen, that's quite a son of it.
03:39Because from that point on,
03:40all we tried to do was hold on to the result.
03:43And honestly, we managed pretty well in the last few minutes.
03:45We did what we could.
03:47Daniel Pettit made some really, really great saves in this game,
03:49and stood strong against the Austrian friends,
03:51and the result might actually reflect the situation,
03:53considering we were down to 10 men,
03:54and the Austrians equalized in the last minutes,
03:56and we barely managed to get to the goal anyway.
03:58But especially after the red card,
03:59we couldn't move the ball either,
04:00and no matter how well you defend,
04:02in the end, one defensive lapse,
04:03in this case by Anand Halayli,
04:04whose player slipped behind him,
04:05it all goes out the window and the game is over.
04:08Halayli also knows it's on him,
04:10you can see it in his body language right after the goal.
04:12And I'm trying not to blame any player specifically.
04:14After all, Anand Halayli isn't a national fullback.
04:16He only recently converted to fullback,
04:17especially in a back five,
04:18and it's completely different to be a fullback in a back five
04:21compared to a back four.
04:22There's still a way to go here.
04:23We saw these problems and these mistakes,
04:25even at Mr. Pellas.
04:26With all his huge potential, he's still young,
04:27and these are the things he'll need to learn.
04:29Unfortunately, again, we conceded a goal in the 90th minute,
04:32after we managed to hold out for a long time
04:35with 10 men against the Austrians.
04:36I also look at the positive things here and say,
04:38we still have five more games in the Nations League,
04:41there are positive things to take from this.
04:42Our next game is against Island on Sunday,
04:44and that's why I also understand
04:45some of the early substitutions by Rand Ben Shimon,
04:47for players like the Peretzes whom he took off early.
04:50What I don't understand,
04:51and I even made a separate video about this,
04:53is our squad depth,
04:54the players coming off the bench.
04:56After all, in the end,
04:56we needed more midfielders here
04:57who can move the ball,
04:58play the six or eight,
04:59more substitutes for Eliel Peretz,
05:01for Dor Peretz,
05:01we don't have too many of those.
05:04They called up too many strikers,
05:05and I hope this won't come back to bite us
05:06over the course of the four games.
05:08Because there's fatigue,
05:09because there are rotations that need to be made,
05:10not everyone can play at high intensity for 90 minutes,
05:13every three days.
05:14I really hope this won't work against us,
05:16but like I said before this campaign started,
05:18we'll judge Rand Ben Shimon after the four games,
05:20not just after one game,
05:21based on performance,
05:22and of course,
05:23also on the results.
05:25Here we had the toughest game in the group,
05:27we lost 3-1.
05:28Moving home,
05:28Sunday is Ireland,
05:29and in my eyes,
05:30this game is already becoming a bit more than just a national team game,
05:33and just a soccer match.
05:34And one last thing I ask of you friends,
05:36in the comments,
05:37without cynicism.
05:38Yes,
05:38our national team is not the best,
05:39yes,
05:40we have a lot of issues,
05:41a lot of things missing in the team,
05:42but this is our team.
05:43These are the players who wear these lilly flag on their shirts,
05:45representing us for better or worse,
05:47even when it's bad.
05:47And even if there aren't too many successors,
05:49we're with them,
05:49hoping for their success,
05:50and we're here even when they're not doing well.
05:52Thank you very much for watching,
05:53don't forget to give a like,
05:54subscribe to the channel,
05:55and write your opinion in the comments.
05:56The people of Israel live!
05:57Alright,
05:58bye!
