Eli Gutman heaped praised on his players and said the Israeli fans
were the "driving force" behind Sunday's win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.Israel maintained their perfect start to Euro 2016 Group B qualifying with a comfortable 3-0 victory against 10-man Bosnia at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa.
Gil Vermouth broke the deadlock in the 36th minute after his shot took a deflection off Emir Spahic.
Omer Damari doubled the home side's lead on the stroke of half-time, sending a deft shot past Bosnia goalkeeper Asmir Begovic for his fifth goal of the qualifying campaign.
Bosnia defender Toni Sunjic was sent off three minutes after the break and Israel took full advantage, Eran Zehavi adding to his two assists with a goal of his own 20 minutes from time.
Israel top the Group B standings by one point after making it three wins from as many games and Gutman was understandably pleased, having easily accounted for the 2014 World Cup participants in front of a partisan crowd.
"We finally showed our strength when the chips were down," Gutman said afterwards.
"The crowd gave us the power – I don't remember an atmosphere like this for an international match.
That was all the players were talking about when they came in for half-time.
"We created so many opportunities, we played intelligently going forward.
"What more can I say? I'm proud of my boys. This is what I work for: high pressure and players that are close to each other."
Gutman added: "You saw a team that was very united. I bow before them, they were great and I'm proud to be their coach.
"I wish the next game was next week. This is a tough group and it was fantastic to win. When 30,000 fans sing the national anthem it makes you shiver, the crowd pushed us forward all the way."
No comments:
Post a Comment