Blue-and-white falls to Czechs

David Lafata seals the victory for the Czechs following a corner kick with a 15-meter strike helped by a deflection off a defender.

By ALLON SINAI
Israel soccer team 311 (photo credit: Adi Avishai)
Israel soccer team 311
(photo credit: Adi Avishai)
Despite conceding a stoppage-time goal to fall to a 2-1 defeat to the Czech Republic on Saturday, Israel captain Yossi Benayoun believes there are plenty of positives to take out of the international friendly played in Graz, Austria.
Czech striker Milan Baros put his team ahead from the penalty spot in the 17th minute after being pulled down by Israel goalkeeper Ariel Harush, playing in place of the injured Dudu Aouate.
Itay Shechter equalized with a header from 12 meters out on the brink of halftime, but David Lafata sealed the victory for the Czechs following a corner kick with a 15-meter strike helped by a deflection off a defender.
However, despite the disappointment at suffering a defeat at the death, Benayoun tried to remain optimistic ahead of Thursday’s friendly at Germany.
“We are frustrated with the result,” said Benayoun.
“We worked hard and at times played well.
“The target of friendly matches is to try out different things and we will learn from our mistakes and improve together.
“The Czechs have a very strong team and it is no coincidence that they qualified for Euro 2012. There’s no reason to get worked up about the result because overall there were also positives.”