“If we lose to Scotland we can fold the campaign”

The Israeli team received the loss last night (Thursday) 2: 0 against the strong Danish team in the opening of the 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign. On the one hand, it was clear even before the game that there are not too many expectations to achieve something against the team. When time and time again the team absorbs in the first quarter of an hour of the game in the era of Willy Rotensteiner, it indicates a not good enough tactical preparation of the Austrian coach.

The Austrian coach’s decision to place Joel Abu Hanna in the third brake position, replacing the injured Nir Bitton, has been criticized, especially when on the bench there is the experienced Louis Taha, whose figures may have been more physically fit to face the Scandinavians. Beyond that, the other two brakes, Eitan Tibi and Hatem ‘Abd al-Hamid, who started alongside Abu Hanna, made personal mistakes that directly affected the outcome of the game.

“We could not absorb goals at the kindergarten level. If there were no mistakes we might have ended in a draw. These are goals of personal mistakes and not tactical mistakes. Such mistakes are paid at compound interest. Bitton’s injury disrupted quite a few plans but we were still not allowed to receive Exiles at these levels because they are punished straight away, “the team visited the defensive game.

“It would sometimes look like a youth game against adults. It was not forces and anyone who wants to present a different picture is his problem,” people in the team added emphatically. “They have qualities at the highest levels. They are quiet and skilled and make no mistake. Even when they They preferred to go back and we wanted to push them, they got out of it easily. Throughout the game there may have been one real threat of ours with Eran Zehavi’s kick. “It was clear that if we lose on Sunday against the Scotland team, it will be possible to fold the campaign and think only about how not to finish the house in fifth place,” they added.

Eran Zehavi (Radad Jabara)

Towards Scotland, lineup changes are planned, some forced. Abu Hanna will probably vacate his seat in favor of Taha in the center of defense, with another possibility being that Rotensteiner would prefer to shift Dor Peretz to the brake position, as happened yesterday, and put Neta Lavi in ​​the lineup alongside Beavers Natcho. The captain may be part of a situation where there will be a change of shifts while on the move, with Lavi or Eyal Golsa (depending on the severity of his injury) joining in the link. In any case, Natcho is highly valued by his friends and the professional team and every decision is made in one piece of advice, with the goal being to reduce his minutes between 45-60 minutes on average per game.

Another change that is expected is the inclusion in the lineup of Sean Weissman alongside Eran Zehavi, who suffered from a less good day than we are used to when he wears the national team uniform. The Valladolid striker is expected to start in place of Mons Dabour, who was injured and vacated his place on the pitch during the second half. The team will spend Passover Eve tomorrow at the hotel where it is staying and on Tuesday, two days after the meeting with the Scots, will take off for Moldova for a game against the local team, and will return to Israel the next day.

Willy Rotensteiner (Radad Jabara)