Israel win rescues England
Steve McClaren will be a delighted man this evening
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Published by Gibson Square, out November 15th, 204 pages, £12. |  |
Saturday, 17, Nov 2007 09:08
England will qualify for Euro 2008 if they draw with Croatia on Wednesday night after Israel beat Russia this evening.
A dogged Israel side put in a superb defensive display to prevail 2-1 and hand England a golden opportunity to qualify for next summer's tournament in Austria and Switzerland.
Fears that Israel might not take the game seriously as they have no chance of qualifying for the tournament were dashed early on as they attacked the Russians, backed by the support of their home crowd and some England fans.
The Russian defence which looked suspect against England at Wembley started nervously and were punished after just ten minutes. Elyaniv Barda got in between two Russian defenders and calmly lofted the ball over the emerging Vladimir Gabulov to give Israel the lead.
Chelsea striker Ben Sahar should have doubled Israel's lead five minutes later, but he failed to make contact with an attempted header when he was only five yards from goal.
Russia slowly started getting back into the game but could not break down a strong Israel defence led by the impressive Tal Ben Haim. Their best efforts came via Diniyar Bilyaletdinov who twice fired wide from outside the box.
Coach Guus Hiddink must have given his Russian side an earful at half-time because they came out and dominated the second-half. They deservedly drew level on the hour mark when Bilyaletdinov scored after being slid in by Andrei Arshavin.
The nerves of England's players and fans must have been jangling as Russia pushed for the win. And their hearts must have been in their mouths when Dmitri Sychev saw his shot come back off the post with only minutes left.
But as the Russians pushed on more space appeared for the Israelis and they secured the win when Omer Golan breezed passed a tired Russian defence to score and hand England a lifeline.