Israel played Georgia to a 2-2 draw in friendly action over the weekend at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi ahead of the Nations League matches coming up in the fall.
Paris Saint-Germain star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored a brace to give the hosts a 2-0 lead, but blue-and-white substitutes Guy Mizrachi and Omri Gandelman found the back of the goal to knot the game up at 2-2 in what was a highly entertaining matchup.
Both sides had few chances over the course of the opening half-hour of play, but the hosts would grab the lead when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put Georgia in front 1-0 as the PSG winger got by Anan Khalaili and Gaby Kanichowsky and then beat Daniel Peretz, slipping the ball right between the left post and the keeper.
Khalaili tried to pull Israel even just before the break, but his chance from inside the box was deflected out of play as Georgia took the 1-0 advantage into halftime.
As the second half got off and running, it didn’t take long for Kvaratskhelia to pick up his second goal of the match as his world-class left-footed strike sent the ball past Omri Glazer for a 2-0 lead over Israel in the 54th minute.
However, just a couple of minutes later, Mizrachi pulled a goal back for Israel from an Eliel Peretz through-ball as his shot was deflected past the Georgian ’keeper to make the score 2-1 in the 59th minute.
The Israelis kept pushing for the equalizer and found it via Gandelman, who came in off the right flank, took an Oscar Gloukh ball, and roofed it into the Georgia goal to draw even at 2-2 in the 63rd minute.
Yarden Shua had a pair of chances while both sides tried to find a winner, but the game came to an end all knotted up at 2-2.
Coach Ran Ben Shimon commented on the match.
“We conceded goals against the run of play. We controlled the game and played well, and we were good within the game itself. The key is that if you concede goals, you can’t lose your direction. We had other goals for this match, and we achieved many of them. Oscar Gloukh put on a great performance from my perspective and we were able to really develop players who can help us along the way. In terms of our objectives for this match, I think we achieved all of them.”
Managing Israel's national team during wartime
The bench boss spoke about managing the national team during this period of war.
“Whenever you feel like complaining about something, you remind yourself that there are soldiers in the south and in the north. We need to remain humble and let people do their jobs. I pray and believe that our people are amazing.
Above us, there are pilots. I know people talk about it a lot, but it needs to be said. Ultimately, we want peace for our children; we are people of peace.”
Gandelman also spoke about featuring for Israel.
“First of all, it’s a great pleasure to come to the national team and score, there’s no better feeling. I have a few fractures in my hand and some pain, but I really wanted to come. I waited a long time for this and I’m happy that I did.
The Israeli national team has a lot of competition in every position, but we all come to help and support the team.
Injuries are part of the game, but I always come hungry and ready to help. I hope I’ll keep going. I won’t lie and say the club wanted me to come here, but I was very happy that I did.”
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