The morning after Israel’s 2:1 loss to Cyrus that narrowed their chances of qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2016 Tournament in France, Yellow-and-Blue Captain Eran Zahavi and midfielder Gili Vermouth talked about the disappointing result prior to heading off to Belgium for the campaign’s final match:
“It’s a very sad day and we didn’t take advantage of the opportunity that we had,” Zahavi summed up. “The Wales result in Bosnia with the Bosnians winning also didn’t help. But we can’t even bother looking at that score because we didn’t do what we needed to. We didn’t do the job and now we have to get the job done in Belgium and hope for a miracle when Cyprus hosts Bosnia.”
Looking forward to the match in Belgium, the captain added:
“It will be a miracle if we advance to the playoff but we’re not going to Belgium to have a good time. We will try and do our best. Of course when I play for the National Team I want to give everything I have just like I do for Maccabi. But again these are all excuses, the bottom line is we didn’t get the job done that we had to.”
Gili Vermouth analyzed the match:
“We began the match well, especially in the first 15 minutes and then Cyprus began pressuring us and started to control the game. After they scored the first goal we tied it up quickly and we tried to win, but after they scored the second goal they finished us off. We’re all disappointed and upset but especially for our fans.”
On the long shot of qualifying in the last match of the campaign:
“Theoretically we still have a chance, but the situation was much better before when we had destiny in our own hands, now we’ve lost that. We will do the maximum and only after the last game in Belgium will we sum up the whole tournament. Right now we have to lift up our heads and get ready for the next game.”
