Yitzhaki after first goal
Photo: AP
Colautti
Photo: AP
Israel 2; Macedonia 1
Israel scores 2 goals in first half to win Euro 2008 qualifier match, in Macedonian capital
Israel's
national soccer team won its Euro 2008 qualifier match against the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia in that nation's capital of Skopje, Saturday night, with a score of two to one.
Israel's Barak Yitzhaki - who plays for Beitar Jerusalem - scored the first goal of the game in the 10th minute. Macedonian Aco Stojkov tied the game three minutes later.
Roberto Colautti (Maccabi Haifa) scored Israel's s second goal in the 43rd minute of the match, sending Israel into half-time with the lead.
Eight minutes into the second half, Macedonia's star player Goran Pandev was injured and carried off the field on a strecher. Nonetheless, Israel was unable to score another goal in the second half, despite several attempts.
Five Israeli players received yellow cards during the game, one of them – to Dekel Keinan - within the first three minutes of the game. Yuval Shpungin (Maccabi Tel Aviv) and goal-scorer Barak Yitzhaki also got carded in the first half.
Yoav Ziv and Gal Alberman – both from Beitar Jerusalem - got yellow cards in the second halfway into the second half. This will not affect the players in later matches.
The Israeli team, which will go on to play Andorra in a qualifying match on Wednesday, is ranked third in its group, after Russia and Croatia. Both of those teams also won Saturday night.
Israel's team has several notable players, among them West Ham United's Yossi Benayoun, 17-year-old Ben Sahar who plays for Chelsea, and goalkeeper Dudu Awat from Deportivo La Coruna.
It is coached by Dror Kashtan.
