|
|
Date:
|
3/7/2003
at 20:00
|
|
MatchID:
|
5078867
|
|
Arena:
|
wolfsbane Arena
|
|
Crowd:
|
18285
|
|
|
At wolfsbane Arena, 18285 punters turned up, and despite threatening clouds
at the horizon, no rain came. Israel tactics involved an interesting
3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Ben David -
Peretz, Cohen, Gabay - al-Hassan, al-Khudria, Amsalem, Chaim, Zilberstein -
Cohen, Ben Zion.
Slovenija had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following
players had been chosen: Gril - Jauh, Handanoviæ, Filekoviè - Raduloviæ,
Butina, Kozole, Kovačič, Butina - Piškur, Sankoviè.
One of many good passes from Aziz al-Hassan at the
wing was recieved and skillfully taken care of by Reuven Cohen, scoring
for Israel to 1 - 0. In the 15:th minute Israel´s Maxim Ben Zion tried
to nail the coffin shut, but the shot rebounded off the bar to fall behind
the net. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Israel´s Aziz al-Hassan got
himself booked. A couple of quick and successful challenges, followed by
a shot from just outside the penalty area after 26 minutes might have
resulted in another goal for Israel. However, Anton Gril made a
spectacular save. A great save by goaltender Anton Gril in the
28:th minute kept the visitors in the game as Maxim Ben Zion struck
from the left with a real cannonball. In the games 30:th minute, Sharlo Zilberstein
could have extended the lead, but his very hard free kick went just over
the bar. In the 33rd minute Slovenijas Žan Jauh received a
yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The teams went for
a half-time break at 1 - 0. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by
Israel, with an impressive 57 percent possession of the ball.
Darko Raduloviæ of
Slovenija received a yellow card in the 49:th minute for unsportsmanlike
behaviour. The referee showed Israels Muhammad al-Khudria
the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Slovenija were
forced to a substitution as Anton Gril couldn´t
continue playing due to the rough treatment. Nancy Peretz made
several blunders at the end of the game, causing a good deal of unrest in
the defensive line. In the 84:th minute of the match the visitors
central line of defence had to look on as Maxim Ben Zion dashed
through, knocking home 2 - 0 for Israel. Israel, bringing the final
ball possession rate to 53 percent, dominated the battle.
The most dominating Israel player was without a doubt Reuven Cohen. Aziz al-Hassan on the
other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Slovenija player was Davor Kovačič. However,
Štefan Butina made a
disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 0.
|
