Ben Shimon: ‘Israel want no regrets against Italy’ | OneFootball

Israel coach Ran Ben Shimon gives updates on the injury situation ahead of the Nations League meeting with Italy. ‘We want to stay in the game and have no regrets.’

It kicks off at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine on Monday at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).

The Nations League group is very much a three-horse race, as Israel have lost all three matches played against Belgium, Italy and France.

However, they did manage to score in every single one, often making the scorelines look worse by conceding several late on.

“We’ve got to go out there and give our all so there are no regrets at the final whistle,” said Shimon in his press conference.

“We played well for periods against both France and Italy. We want to be competitive and stay in the game all the way to the end, even if it is against a very strong opponent.”

Injury concerns for Israel in Italy

Israel have numerous injury problems to deal with, as Raz Shlomo pulled out hours before the defeat to France and has been sent home with a groin injury.

He was replaced in the squad by 19-year-old Maccabi Netanya defender Nikita Stoyanov.

They are also missing Miguel Vitor, Shawn Goldberg, Eli Dasa and Roy Revivo, while Omar Gandelman is a major doubt after scoring the goal against France.

Dean David is top scorer of the Israeli league, but left out because he wanted guarantees over the number of minutes he’d play on international duty.

“I have very talented players and we want to build a team that plays well. Everything we do has a lot of thought behind it first,” assured the coach.

“We needed a left-footed centre-back and we’ll see how he will replace the one we lost.”

Inevitably, there is tension around the fact Israel are playing during the fragile situation in the Middle East, as made clear when Shimon’s press conference in Tel Aviv had to be interrupted by air raid sirens so the group of journalists had to hide in a bunker.

“We see and hear everything, but we cannot control anything, so all we can do is try our best on the field.”