Israel defeats Slovakia in tune-up; Tabib suffers setback

Hapoel’s new ownership, headed by former MK Haim Ramon, send a letter to the IFA demanding that Tabib not be allowed to buy Beitar.

By ALLON SINAI
Eli Tabib 370 (photo credit: Adi Avishai)
Eli Tabib 370
(photo credit: Adi Avishai)
Israel’s Under-21 national team defeated Slovakia 1-0 at Kiryat Eliezer Stadium on Wednesday night exactly one week before its European Championship opener against Norway in Netanya.
The blue-and-white was far from impressive in its final warm-up match, but Alon Turgeman’s eighthminute goal after a swift team move ensured the hosts recorded one final moral-boosting victory.
“We just wanted to give the players a run-out and the only important thing was that everyone one came through the match without suffering an injury,” said Israel coach Guy Luzon. “Our matches in the tournament will be very different to this friendly.”
After facing Norway in the tournament opener on June 5, Israel will play Italy at Bloomfield Stadium three days later before completing its Group A games versus England at Teddy Stadium on June 11.
Group B will be contested between defending champion Spain, Germany, Netherlands and Russia.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals to be played on June 15, with the final to take place at Teddy on June 18.
Elsewhere, Eli Tabib’s bid to purchase Beitar Jerusalem suffered yet another setback on Wednesday.
Representatives of current owner Arkadi Gaydamak failed to contact him in Russia to get his approval to sell the club to Tabib, while the Israel Football Association’s Budget Control Authority said that Tabib will only complete serving his year-long cooling down period on July 20 after selling his ownership stake at Hapoel Tel Aviv and not on July 1 as initially believed.
On Tuesday, Hapoel’s new ownership, headed by former MK Haim Ramon, sent a letter to the IFA demanding that Tabib not be allowed to buy Beitar as he has yet to settle his debts with the Reds.
Meanwhile, the rumor mill regarding the identity of the next Maccabi Tel Aviv coach continued to churn on Wednesday, with former Dutch international Patrick Kluivert being mentioned in connection with the vacant post.
Kluivert joins fellow Dutchman Frank Rijkaard and current Brighton coach Gus Poyet, among others, on the ever-growing list of potential candidates for the job left by Oscar Garcia.