U-17 Soccer: Israel falls short of Euros with draw

"It's a pity we didn't win, but we're more interested in the long term and we saw that we've got very talented players with a lot of character," Israel coach Moti Ivanir said.

By ALLON SINAI
england israel soccer (photo credit: ap)
england israel soccer
(photo credit: ap)
Israel's under-17 team came up short in its attempt to qualify for the European Championships on Sunday at Ness Ziona. The national team, which needed to defeat England and for France to fail to beat Russia to finish first in Group 3 and progress to the championships in Turkey, could only manage a 2-2 draw with the English. However, the team would have failed to advance even had it won as France defeated Russia 3-1 in Rishon Lezion. "It's a pity we didn't win, but we're more interested in the long term and we saw that we've got very talented players with a lot of character," Israel coach Moti Ivanir said. England took the lead in the 11th minute on Sunday and had a golden opportunity to double its advantage when Ryan Donaldson was brought down in the box by Hana Nasser in the 17th minute. Donaldson brushed himself down and took the spot kick himself. Israel keeper Idan Tuef was up to the task, however, guessing right and keeping his team in the match. England was made to pay for its miss in the 38th minute when Muhammad Ghadir lobbed the keeper to tie the score and again in the 63rd minute Israel grabbed the lead. Samir Hahim was put through by Eyal Golsa and completed the comeback with a classy finish. The hosts, however, couldn't hold on to their lead. Nathan Delfonso grabbed a stoppage time equalizer for England as the news filtered through that the French had clinched their win against Russia.