Yabba Dabbur do
NATIONS LEAGUE COUNTDOWN
OFIR MARCIANO has backed Celtic slayer Munas Dabbur to gun down Scotland seven days after humbling the Hoops.
Hibs’ Israeli keeper insists the striker, who netted a double in Red Bull Salzburg’s Europa League win against the champions, is his country’s best hope in Haifa tomorrow night.
Dabbur has only scored one international goal in seven appearances but has been in prolific form at club level and netted five times to help Salzburg reach last season’s Europa League semi-final.
Now Marciano believes he can put Scotland to the sword and end a horror run of seven defeats in their last eight games to get the first win of new boss Andi Herzog’s reign.
Austrian Herzog suffered defeat to Albania in their Nations League opener and a 3-0 friendly loss to Northern Ireland.
He is preparing for his first home fixture in charge with Alex McLeish taking his side to the Sammy Ofer Stadium BY GAVIN BERRY looking to continue Scotland’s perfect record after three wins against Israel.
Marciano has just returned to full fitness following an operation on his broken finger and is planning to watch the match alongside compatriot Nir Bitton with the Celtic midfielder crocked.
And the Easter Road shot-stopper picked out £5million man Dabbur – linked with a move to Crystal Palace in the summer – former Rangers target Tomer Hemed and ex-Hoops midfielder Beram Kayal as the main players.
Marciano said: “Scotland have a good team but in Israel we think there is a real chance to beat them. It will be a 50-50 match but if we start well, press high and try to be dominant then we have a good chance to win.
“These are players at an excellent level who can really affect the game in the final third. If you look at Dabbur last term, he had a brilliant campaign in the Europa League.
“They reached the semi-final and he scored in almost every game.
“He is one of the best players in our squad. I don’t know why he isn’t in a top league because he has shown consistently he’s top class.”
Marciano hasn’t played for Israel since he was between the sticks for a 4-1 World Cup qualifying defeat to Spain.
After revealing he went against medical advice to play with an injury for the last three months of last season, he is aiming to get back into the Hibs team and the international set-up.
The 29-year-old was back on the bench for the win over Hamilton last weekend.
And after admitting he’s not the best spectator he will now be forced to watch Israel from a distance.
Marciano said: “I’ll probably watch the game with my family and maybe with my friend Nir Bitton. “The stadium in Haifa is brand new but I don’t know what the atmosphere will be like. I hope we get a good support because when we do in this stadium, it’s amazing. We played well in the defeat to Albania. “We have good players who can be a threat to other teams but now with the new manager we’re trying to build a good group that can try to involve young guys.”