On the eve of Nigeria quarterfinal clash with Korea Republic, Israel produced one of the biggest wins in its football history, stunning Brazil 3-2 in extra time to qualify for the last four of the FIFA U20 World Cup holding in Argentina.
Seeking the fourth semifinals after those of 1985, 1989 and 2005, the Flying Eagles will tackle Korea Republic at Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero from 7:30 pm Nigerian time.
Last night a tightly contested encounter saw Israel come back from behind twice before grabbing the shock victory through Dor Turgeman’s brilliant solo strike.
The Israelis will face either Uruguay or the United States in the semi-finals.
After a scoreless first half at the Bicentenario stadium, five-time winners of the tournament, Brazil broke through in the 56th minute on Marcos Leonardo’s superbly-taken, first-time left-foot shot.
Anan Khalaili brought Israel level, rising at the back post to angle home a header from a pinpoint El Yam Kancepolski cross in the 60th minute, delighting a largely pro-Israel crowd in the stands.
But Israel’s hopes dimmed just 20 seconds into extra time when Andrey Santos set up Matheus Nascimento to restore Brazil’s lead.
Just two minutes later, however, Hamza Shibli equalized, tapping in a low ball from Ilay Feingold at the back post to make it 2-2.
The decisive goal came, near the end of the first period of extra-time, when Turgeman collected the ball on the edge of the box, jinked cleverly past two defenders and then fired past Kaique Pereira.
Ilay Madmon and Ahmad Ibrahim would both miss penalties for Israel in the second period of extra time, but Ofir Haim’s side were able to hold on.
“When I was a kid, I used to play a lot in the neighbourhood, outside my house and I used to always try to pull off things like that, so I think the goal came from there”, said Turgeman.
“I’m really thrilled and proud of it. I’m so emotional. I’m very happy that I’ve made all Israelis happy. This is huge for my country. It’s unbelievable”.
Brazil were fancied by many pundits to continue their excellent record in this tournament and Tay Abed said they knew the odds were stacked against them.
“We knew before the game that nobody was giving us a chance, But we believed in ourselves. Brazil are a fantastic team, one of the best in this tournament. But we went out to play with our hearts, play with passion”, he said.
Abded said the Israeli team now believed they could go all the way.
“We’re taking it step by step,” said Abed. “We’ve now reached the semi-finals. If we keep playing like this, with the passion and the heart, we can do it”, he said.
Israel are the first debutants to reach the semifinals of the championship since Senegal in 2015.
The senior Israeli national team have only once qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals, going out in the group stage in Mexico 1970.
The President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau has meanwhile implored Nigeria’s U20 squad to be focused and disciplined as they go all out for a semifinal ticket against South Korea.
In a video conversation with players and officials of the team on Saturday, Gusau commended the team for their resilience and victory against host-nation Argentina in the Round of 16 tie on Wednesday and urged them to put up even a stronger performance against the nifty Asians on Sunday.
“Gentlemen, I want to use this medium to commend and congratulate you for the hard-fought win against Argentina. What you demonstrated was the true Nigeria spirit and I urge you to replicate the same against South Korea tomorrow (today).
“The game tomorrow is crucial and I believe you can do it for yourselves, your families and above all our dear nation, Nigeria. Nigerians are happy with your performance over there and are solidly behind you”.
Italy, Nigeria’s 0-2 victims at the group stage, await the winners of the quarterfinal tie, while giant killers Israel will face either United States or Uruguay for places in the final.
