Woo hoo!

October 12, 2006 - 4:23 PM by Sarah

Great news for fans of Israeli soccer!!! The under-21 team is headed for the European Championship!!!!

Israel’s under-21 soccer team qualified for the European Championship for the first time last night, beating France 1-0 in Herzliya to complete a 2-1 aggregate victory.

Amir Tega scored the winning goal in injury time, after picking up a deflection off a French defender and slotting the ball into an empty, with the visiting goalkeeper stranded. Tega had come on as a substitute only four minutes earlier.

France had dominated the first half, but at 9:20 P.M., the fireworks went off over the Municipal Stadium in Herzliya to celebrate Israel’s historic victory.

Only eight minutes earlier, the 7,500 fans in Herzliya skipped a heart beat when Albin Ebondo sent a shot crashing against the post for France. Memories of previous occasions when Israel had failed at the last moment haunted both the fans and the Israeli bench, but this time things were to be different as Tega blasted the ball into an open net to put things beyond doubt with less than a minutes remaining.

Coach Guy Levi had said all along that he would play to win even though a goalless draw would have been enough to send Israel through to a place among Europe’s top eight. The first half provided little coverage for Levi’s bold predictions.

. . . . France piled on the pressure in the final minutes and suddenly it looked as if a goalless draw might be to much to ask; but in the end, Tom Almadon in the Israel goal stopped the visitors from ruining the party, and Tamuz set up Tega for the finale – and the celebrations began.

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