Int'l Soccer: Late equalizer dents Israel's away record

Kashtan's side held 1-1 by Latvia in Riga after wins in Moldova and Luxembourg.

By JEREMY LAST
gal alberman 224 88 ap (photo credit: AP)
gal alberman 224 88 ap
(photo credit: AP)
What a difference a minute makes. With 60 seconds of normal time to play in Riga on Wednesday evening Israel was heading for a third consecutive away victory of its 2010 World Cup finals qualifying campaign. Success had seemed ensured after team captain Yossi Benayoun fired the boys in blue and white into a 1-0 lead with an unstoppable shot from inside the area five minutes into the second half. But as the clock wound down the Israelis began to relax and take their eye off the ball, allowing Vladimirs Kolesnichenko through to grab an 89th minute equalizer. The 1-1 result punctured Israeli hopes of finishing this round of qualifiers top of Group 2, a situation which would have boosted confidence in Dror Kashtan's camp even though there are still six games left to play. The word "disappointed" was central to the comments made by each of the Israeli players after the game. And how they should have been. The win was there for the taking and should never have slipped out of their grasp so easily. "It was a disappointing moment," Benayoun said of the Latvia goal. "We controlled the game. We should have held the ball and played dirty. For some reason we pushed up to try and increase the score and we paid for this mistake." Coach Dror Kashtan echoed Benayoun's sentiments: "It is very disappointing to let a goal in. We have got seven out of nine points from three away games and that is OK. It is reasonable." Just five minutes before Latvia scored KRC Genk striker Elyaniv Barda had come achingly close to making it 2-0 to the visitors when his fierce half-volley hit the cross bar. The effort summed up a match which had been dominated by a solid Israeli side which played less-than-inspiring soccer, but appeared likely to grind out another away victory. "We were the better side over the 90 minutes and we were only centimeters away from making it 2-0," Benayoun said. "It was a real pity and everyone took it hard in the changing room. We asked each other 'What happened?' But this happens." A win would have put Israel at the top of the standings, with a five month break until it faces back to back matches against Greece in Ramat Gan on March 28, 2009 and in Athens on April 1. Greece's 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Switzerland will, however, give the Israeli players some comfort, proving that the group is still wide open. Israel is due to play Switzerland away from home in the final game of the campaign on October 14, 2009. Israel Football Association Chairman Avi Luzon was another to express his heartbreak at the late goal. "I felt disappointment when we let the goal in. We were just a minute away from the three points that we wanted and we will now need to beat Greece twice," he stated. While Israel had the lion's share of possession in the first half, there was a lack of a cutting edge. Right back Klemi Saban made some cutting runs down the wing and sent in a few dangerous crosses, but they were easily dealt with by the Latvian defense. Benayoun was the only obviously dangerous Israeli player on the pitch, and he showed his intentions in the 20th minute when his close-range shot was deflected away from a corner. So it was no surprise when the Liverpool player came out storming in the second period, played a strange one-two with a Latvian defender before burying the ball in the roof of the net. Israel grew in confidence after the goal, and Maccabi Haifa's Biram Kiyal came close to doubling the lead in the 59th minute with a shot which fizzed wide of the post from far out. But Israel's players looked to happy to rest on their laurels and were made to pay when Kolesnichenko skipped past the onlooking Israeli defenders to tie the game and give his team a share of the points.