The Israel National Team began its 2018 World Cup campaign that will be held in Russia, dropping a 1:3 result to Italy. Two Maccabi Tel Aviv players, Eitan Tibi and Tal Ben Chaim were in Elisha Levy’s Starting XI. Tibi was injured during the second half and was substituted out of the match. If there was a highlight from the contest other than a positive effort put in by the Blue & White it was Ben Chaim’s chip shot goal from just outside of the box that beat the Azzurri keeper, Gianluigi Buffon.
“It didn’t matter who scored the goal but in any case I was happy,” Tibi said following the game, “I was really happy for Tal, he scored a terrific goal. I’m really, really happy for him.”
About the match:
“It was a difficult game and there’s a reason why they have gone some many matches without a loss. It was a good match this evening but I think we could have had a better result tonight and it’s too bad that we didn’t.”
The central defender added:
“When they only had 10 players in the second half we really controlled the tempo of the game and we had many chances that we just couldn’t convert. There’s always something that we can improve. I thought that we were able to play with the opponent, but unfortunately we gave up two first half goals out of three opportunities.”
