Four Maccabi Tel Aviv players appeared in Israel's 2-0 victory over Northern Ireland in Belfast, with defenders Sheran Yeini and Eitan Tibi playing the full 90 minutes
Last night the Israeli national team completed a successful week of World Cup qualifiers, harvesting four out of a possible six points against Portugal and Northern Ireland. Surprisingly three of those four points were earned far from home in the below-zero capital of Northern Ireland, Belfast. There, in the last fifteen minutes of the match, Israeli head coach Eli Gutman's side scored two goals, one by Belgian side Club Brugge's midfielder Lior Refaelov and a second by French side Toulouse's striker Eden Ben Basat to keep Israel's World Cup Brazil 2014 qualifying hopes alive. After a goalless first half, which saw each side miss a good chance, Israel returned after the restart as the more determined of the two. A little more than ten minutes from time Israeli pressure on the Northern Ireland goal resulted in a successful Lior Refaelov finish from the left side of the area. Seven minutes later a superb personal effort by FC Kaiserslautern forward Avi Shecter, currently on loan at Swansea City, was finished off by fellow striker Ben Bassat, who struck from 12 yards out into the roof of the Northern Ireland net to seal the 2-0 win.
Maccabi Tel Aviv defenders Sheran Yeini and Eitan Tibi were once again full participants in the match, while MTA midfielder Maharan Radi, who saw no action against Portugal last Friday, started for Israel and was replaced on the hour mark by fellow MTA midfielder Eran Zahavi. Along with the other MTA members of the Israeli national squad, the four will now return home to league duties where a difficult match awaits them in the form of a home tie against Maccabi Haifa on Saturday night. This evening the squad will hold a practice at the Kiryat Shalom training grounds, and under 21s Moannes Dabbur, Moshe Lugassi and Dor Micha, as well as goalkeepers Vincent Enyeama and Tomer Chencinski, returning from international duties for Nigeria and Canada respectively, are all expected to participate. Tomorrow they will be joined by the participants in the senior Israel squad for Maccabi's first full practice before the crucial match on Saturday.
