It was another mixed day of results for Israel at the Paris Olympics. The Under-23 Israel Olympic Soccer Team fell to Japan 1-0 on Mao Hosoya’s 90th-minute goal and were eliminated from the tournament.
“I am very disappointed,” Israel head coach Guy Luzon began. “I think that when the score was 0-0 we were very close to scoring a goal, but I would have been even more disappointed and really felt bad for the guys had we not done everything that they could to succeed. The guys wanted to score throughout the tournament and defend to the best of their abilities. They did the best that they could.”
“We played against the Asian champions in Japan as well as against Mali and Paraguay, three fantastic opponents, and if they finished ahead of us, they probably deserved it. I’m very proud of the guys and our journey to the Games. Japan is one of the best teams in the world for players that are Under-23 and they are a squad that has it all. They are dynamic, organized and physical, everything one would want and expect from a soccer team. There were minutes when we were equivalent to them, but unfortunately, the better team won. The goal they scored was because we gambled and wanted to go for the victory, it may be that if we hadn’t gambled it would have ended in a draw, but it doesn’t matter at this point.”
The bench boss continued, “We did everything we could to make the people of our nation happy, even though we didn’t get the results. They’re proud of us, and I’m proud of them. It’s the saddest thing in the world to depart a tournament like this because we’re leaving what is, in fact, a dream; we’ve been in a dream for the past two weeks.”
'We appreciate every moment here'
Starlet Oscar Gloukh also reflected on the game, “We appreciate every moment we were here, and that’s how we will now continue on. We started well, and after that, we relaxed a bit, and they dominated. In the second half, we had to take advantage of the situation, and if we did, we would have won. We are worth more than the one point we collected in the three games and in every single match we were there, we were in it. Now, everyone will go their own way. I had the most fun in the world, thanks to the team and the players.”
Israel Football Association Chairman Moshe Zuarets spoke to the entire team and said, “After 48 years, we participated in the Olympics thanks to all of you. Be proud of what you have done for Israeli soccer. Each and every one of you – players, the professional team, everyone – have been part of such a wonderful journey. You are the future of Israeli soccer, and you will make a better future for all of us. I’m proud of you, and you should be proud of yourselves.”
In the pool, the Israel Men’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Team of Denis Loktev, Bar Soloveychik, Tomer Frankel & Gal Cohen Groumi featured in the final of the event for the first time in the nation’s history and finished in 9th place with a time of 7:10.22, 10.79 seconds off the eventual winner Great Britain. Earlier in the day, Denis Loktev, Bar Soloveychik, Eitan Ben Shitrit & Gal Cohen Groumi finished 5th in their semifinal heat and a stellar 8th overall, tied with Japan with a total time of 7:08.43 to advance to the finals of the competition.
Shachar Sagiv was Israel’s representative in the Triathlon which had been postponed by a day due to the pollution in the River Seine. However, the extra day did not help his showing as he finished 37th out of 50 participants overall with a time of 1:49:32.
In Tahiti, Anat Lelior’s third-round Women’s Surfing matchup is against Tyler Wright from Australia. Wright is not only a two-time world champion—in 2016 and 2017—but also finished ahead of Lelior in round 1. Their race is slated to take place in the middle of the night in Israel.
On the Judo mat Maya Goshen won her first bout in the 70kg category over Fidel Ogel of Turkey but then fell to Marie Eve Gahie of France in the Round of 16. Two potential medal chances in Peter Paltchik and Inbar Lanir will be in action on Thursday morning.
In Badminton, Misha Zilberman defeated Prince Dahal of Nepal 21-10 in his final group stage game but didn’t advance out of the group stage.
Over in the pool, David Gerchik finished 22nd overall in the men’s 200m Backstroke with a time of 1:58.79 but didn’t advance to the semifinals.
On Thursday, Israel will be very busy competing in five different events.
In Archery, Mikaella Moshe finished 18th place in the Women’s Individual Ranking Round with 660 points but fell 7-1 against Madalina Amaistroaie from Romania in the 1/32 Elimination Round. Over on the Men’s side, Roy Dror will be competing.
Israeli Windsurfers Sharon Kantor and Tom Reuveny tried to get seaborne in Marseille, but once again, inclement weather kept them on shore. The competition will continue tomorrow.