Bosnia defeats Israel in tense Euro 2016 qualifier

Bosnia defeated Israel 3-1 in a tense match for the Euro Cup qualifiers on Friday. Israel took the lead, but were quickly pegged back and overwhelmed. Tal Ben-Haim scored the only goal for the Israeli national team in the game’s 41st minute.

The defeat badly dents Israel’s chances of making it to the tournament finals.

Israel will face off against Andorra next on September 3, while Bosnia will go on to play against Belgium. Israel is currently in joint third place in Group B. The top two teams qualify automatically for next year’s tournament in France. The third placed team could also qualify.

Unbeaten Wales, which beat Belgium 1-0, moved above Belgium into first place with four games left of the campaign and is five points clear of Israel and Cyprus in third. Cyprus beat Andorra 3-1.

Earlier Friday, hundreds of Bosnian soccer fans rioted outside a hotel where players of the Israeli National Team were staying ahead of the match.

Bosnian fans lit flares and threw smoke grenades near the hotel in Zenica, according to a Ynet report. Bosnian police deployed hundreds of officers along the route from the hotel to the stadium ahead of the match, which began at 9:45 p.m. Israel time (6:45 p.m. GMT).

A picture posted to Facebook of the protest showed the Bosnian fans stepping on an Israeli flag, and a separate video showed the fans shouting “Palestine” during their march.

Special units from the Israel Police cooperated with their Bosnian counterparts ahead of the match, dubbed “high risk” by officials.

A security official from the Bosnia-Herzegovina Football Federation, Adis Hajlovats, confirmed to the Turkish Anadolu Agency that Israeli players and administrators were protected by special police during their time in the country.

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When the Bosnian team played against Israel in Haifa in November, the Bosnians lost 0:3.

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Bosnia’s coach Mehmed Baždarević complimented the Israeli team ahead of the game. “I’d be lying if I said I’m not worried,” he told Ynet.

“Still, I have faith in our players and think they can prove themselves. It’s important that we show professionalism and passion and play in a good mood. I have been following Israel’s players and we will be prepared. It’s hard to say which team is better and it would be insolence to claim we are better than a team to which we lost 0:3 not so long ago. Israel is a serious opponent, with players who have been playing together for a long time, but I am not afraid.”

In April, Bosnian soccer fans joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Vienna and shouted anti-Semitic epithets in one of the city’s central plazas.

A video posted to YouTube showed several dozen pro-Palestinian demonstrators waving Palestinian flags in Stephansplatz and calling “free, free Palestine!” The Bosnian fans dressed in blue, yellow and white were seen standing among the protesters and joining them in their cries, before setting out on a chant of their own: “Ubij, ubij Židove!” or “Kill, kill the Jews!”

Bosnians were in the city to watch a match between Austria and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

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