A dodgy defence and out-of-form stars: The view from Israel
IT’s Groundhog Day again, ladies and gentlemen. Israel are coming to Hampden. It’s a vital qualifier. It’s a wet Autumn evening. You can practically hear the radio blaring ‘I’ve Got You Babe’ as Bill Murray crawls out of bed and comes to terms with his new supernatural reality.
Yes, it’s fair to say that Scotland and Israel are pretty familiar with each other at this point. Tomorrow, the two nations will meet for the seventh time in three years when they spar for supremacy in the race to Qatar at the national stadium.
There are the many of the same old faces in the Israeli squad, familiar foes and threats that require little by way of introduction. But as Israeli football expert Raphael Gellar explains, there are one or two important differences on this occasion – and a few of the same old deficiencies, too.
“It’s going to be a very similar team that faces Scotland,” he says. “None of our regular players are in particularly good form. [Eran] Zahavi isn’t scoring like he usually does. Same with [Manor] Solomon – he’s not off to an amazing start in Ukraine [with Shakhtar Donestk]. The captain Bibras Natkho has been very good at Partizan Belgrade but it’s not the highest level of competition.
“If Israel don’t finish second then the manager is gone, which is pretty harsh. After the Austria result [Israel won 5-2] a lot of people were really impressed and we went to Denmark feeling pretty positive, thinking we might steal a point, and we lost 5-1. Very quickly it became clear that Denmark are just a better team in every way – in defence, midfield and attack.”
Given our own national team’s travails in Copenhagen, it is a feeling that the Tartan Army will be able to relate to. Scotland were thoroughly outclassed on their visit to the Danish capital earlier this year but with the Scandinavians in pole position and Austria’s tilt for the play-offs in jeopardy,
the feeling in Israel is that tomorrow’s clash at Hampden has all the hallmarks of a qualification decider.
“There’s an excitement about things being open for second place,” Gellar explains. “There’s a feeling that Austria are in bad form and that it’s down to Israel and Scotland, and this game will be the defining moment of the group.
“I think Israel face a lot more pressure though – because the stadium will be sold out, because of the weather, because of the form of the players.
“The biggest issue that Israel always have is that we don’t have a centre-half, we just don’t. There’s a chance that the coach could try some new players in there, rather than the guys from the last eight years that haven’t been that great but they’re the best we have.
“People complain about our centre-backs but the problem is that in the Israeli league, they’re elite. Scots will know what that’s like too – playing for Celtic against Ross County isn’t the same as playing for Celtic against Malmo.
“They can do well for their teams in Israel and bounce around the three biggest clubs that offer the biggest wages. But in this game, it looks like the coach is going for some younger players who haven’t been called up that much before.”
Given the cagey nature that has characterised the recent
meetings between Israel and Scotland, it seems safe to assume that tomorrow’s clash could verge on the dour once again.
Veteran centre-forward Zahavi is the obvious threat for Steve Clarke and his coaching staff – posting Cristiano Ronaldo-esque numbers at international level tends to attract a bit of attention – but the PSV striker’s place in the squad wasn’t even assured all that long ago.
“There’s something about the way the two teams match up,” Gellar said of the even contests of late. “Both coaches are cautious in how they play.
“I think Clarke is probably a little scared of giving Zahavi any space. He has 29 goals in his last 30 international games. His story is crazy – at 30 years old, he was considered one of the biggest busts in the history of the national team.
“He was this big star but he only had six or seven goals, and now he’s on the way to becoming the all-time leading goal scorer. People forget but a few years ago he quit
– he threw off the captain’s armband against Macedonia and he quit.
“He said he was always being criticised and he wasn’t scoring, even though he was getting 30 goals a season for Maccabi Tel Aviv. It wasn’t working.
“And then in the last few campaigns, the last few years – he scores in basically every game.”