Israel seeks to thwart Wales in vital soccer qualifier

Unbeaten Israel geared up for a crucial home game hosting Wales on Saturday evening, as it bids for qualification for the European Championship finals in France next year. A sell-out crowd of 30,000 was expected at Haifa’s Sami Ofer Stadium.

Israel has won all three of its opening fixtures — against Andorra, Cyprus and Bosnia — and sits atop qualifying Group B. Wales is one point behind, with two wins and two draws. In a group from which Belgium is widely expected to qualify, Israel and Wales could find themselves chasing the second qualifying slot.

The Wales team includes Real Madrid’s highly rated forward Gareth Bale and Arsenal’s midfielder Aaron Ramsey.

Israeli national coach Eli Guttman joked on Friday that he had tried to call Bale’s Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo for advice on how to thwart him. “We contacted Cristiano exactly how to do it, how to stop Bale,” Guttman said. “But he didn’t answer the call.”

More seriously, Guttman said: “It is not about one man. This is a team game… We’re going to play the game as one unit not to give (Bale) space. This is our plan.”

Guttman acknowledged his surprise that Israel is topping the group, and underlined the importance of Saturday’s game and the home game against Belgium on Tuesday. He said he’d told his players, including top scorer Omer Damari, “to be focused and concentrated only on the next game.”

He added: “We have 30,000 people coming and we want to send them home with a big smile on their faces.”

“Obviously we’ve put ourselves in a great position after four games,” Wales midfielder Joe Allen told the BBC on Friday. “When you think of the strength of Belgium and Bosnia and to currently be ahead of them is a great achievement. But there’s still so much more to be done.”