A team that offered hope... then, four months later, Hamas attacked Israel

BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountHomeNewsSportEarthReelWorklifeTravelCultureFutureMusicTVWeatherSoundsMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportEarthReelWorklifeTravelCultureFutureMusicTVWeatherSoundsClose menu BBC SportMenuHomeFootballCricketFormula 1Rugby UTennisGolfCyclingAthleticsMoreA-Z SportsAmerican FootballAthleticsBasketballBoxingCricketCyclingDartsDisability SportFootballFormula 1Gaelic GamesGolfGymnasticsHorse RacingMixed Martial ArtsMotorsportNetballRugby LeagueRugby UnionSnookerSwimmingTennisFull Sports A-ZMore from SportEnglandScotlandWalesNorthern IrelandQuizzesNews FeedsHelp & FAQsFootballScores & FixturesTablesChampions LeagueWomen's FootballTeamsLeagues & CupsGossipTop ScorersEuropeanQuizzesSport InsightA team that offered hope... then, four months later, Hamas attacked Israel Image source, Getty ImagesByMike HensonBBC Sport senior journalistIt was, says Ido Rakovsky, like reporting on "science fiction", rather than sport. Israel, whose senior team have qualified for the World Cup just once, had beaten global powerhouses Brazil in the quarter-finals of the under-20 version of the tournament. At the final whistle, the commentator covering the match for Israeli television vowed "you will tell of this night to your children, and they will tell it to your grandchildren". Five days later, the team's semi-final against Uruguay was the most-watched thing of the evening on Israeli television, drawing a 23% viewing share. "That summer, everybody was watching under-20 football, everybody knew the players," says Rakovsky, who was covering the team for Israeli media outlet Haaretz. It wasn't just their deeds on the pitch that felt otherworldly, though. After scoring a stoppage-time winner against Uzbekistan in the last 16, Anan Khalaili had given an interview to Israeli television. In it Khalaili, an Israeli Arab, thanked the viewers back home for staying up late to watch his team win in Argentina. To do so, he used the words 'Am Yisrael' - a Hebrew phrase that means 'People of Israel' and is bound up in Jewish religion, community, culture and history. "That an Arab player used that figure of speech said something about the identity of that team," says Rakovsky. "That team made real the claim that football can really bring people together - that Muslim players are part of the national team of the Jewish state, representing Israel and creating something better, both for the present and future." But a little over four months after Khalaili's interview and the win over Brazil, Hamas attacked Israel. The armed Palestinian group killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. In response, Israel launched a massive military offensive in Gaza. The United Nations believes the retaliation has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians., external As the war goes on, can the potential of a golden generation of Israel's footballers, in sport and society, be realised? Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Israel beat Brazil 3-2 in the quarter-finals of the U20 World Cup in 2023 Beaten 1-0 by eventual champions Uruguay, Israel finished third at that Under-20 World Cup in 2023. The same set of players, with a few additions and omissions, had already impressed at continental level. They were runners-up at 2022's Under-19 Euros, beaten by England in extra-time in the final, and would go on to make the semi-finals of 2023's Under-20 Euros. Israel has produced outstanding players in the past. Eyal Berkovic and Yossi Benayoun were technical, gifted attackers with long Premier League careers. But a depth of talent, emerging together, sets the current cohort apart. Khalaili has been one of the most sought-after young prospects in Europe this summer. After his £21.5m move to Inter Milan fell through, Crystal Palace saw off competition from Nottingham Forest to pick him up for a similar fee from Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise. Playmaker Oscar Gloukh, 22, wears Ajax's number 10 shirt after his form earned a move from Red Bull Salzburg. Left-back Roy Revivo signed for Spanish club Elche on transfer deadline day this month from Maccabi Tel Aviv, while Twente defender Stav Lemkin, also 23, is also highly rated. Dor Turgeman, Ilay Feingold and Idan Toklomati are impressing in Major League Soccer in the United States. All have now won full caps, but were moulded into a collective, cohesive unit - something that has often been beyond the senior side - by Israel's age-grade coach Ofir Haim. "It isn't an issue at all here," Haim said, external of the different backgrounds in his squad during the 2023 Under-20 World Cup. "We don't have any problem with religion. Not at all. We have players here who put on tefillin [Jewish ceremonial wear, containing verses from the Torah] - and Anan [Khalaili], Hamza [Shibli] and Ahmed [Salman] perform the Muslim prayers. "We don't even talk about this. We unite everybody, and I wish the country were as united as this team." Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Ofir Haim managed various domestic teams in Israel before becoming head coach of the U19s and U20s Football has long been the part of Israeli society where communities mix together who may not otherwise meet. "The majority of the Jewish people who arrived in the mandate period [a spell between 1923 and 1948 where the region was run by Britain] emigrated from Europe," says Dr Omer Einav, a historian and author of Defending the Goal, a book on Israel's football history. "They were Europeans and when you think about cinema, music, theatre, dance, they had nothing in common with Middle Eastern culture. Nothing, except football. That was the only common language, the only thing they both love in the same way." Encouraged by the British administrators who ran the region, teams from different communities, and some made up of elements of each, would play against each other.

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Source: BBC Sport

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