Israel sweeps past Andorra 4:1 in Euro soccer

National team makes it two wins out of two

Israel made it two wins out of two in European Championship qualifying Monday, easing past minnows Andorra 4-1.

Omer Damari scored a hat trick and Tomer Hemed added a penalty strike in injury time for the straightforward away win.

The win leaves Israel handily placed in Group B, lying second in the group, one point behind Wales, which has played three games.

World Cup qualifier Bosnia-Herzegovina is in trouble after earning only two points from three games, allowing a victory over Belgium to slip away through the fingers of goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who fumbled an easy second-half shot from Radja Nainggolan in a 1-1 home draw.

Wales consolidated the lead in the group by beating Cyprus 2-1. Wales has seven points from three games with Israel on six and Belgium on four from two games. Cyprus has three points.

In the matchup of the only two nations from the group who reached the World Cup finals, Bosnia took the lead in the 28th through captain Edin Dzeko before Belgium got the equalizer through Nainggolan in the 51st minute.

In Cardiff, Wales took a two-goal lead within 23 minutes through early strikes from substitute David Cotterill and Hal Robson-Kanu and somehow still made it a cliffhanger after Vincent Laban got Cyprus back into the game by halftime and Wales midfielder Andy King was sent off in the 47th.

On Friday, Israel beat Cyprus in Nicosia 2-1 to successfully open its UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign.

Goals by Omer Damari and Tal Ben Haim gave Israel a strong position by halftime. But the team struggled toward the end, after Konstantinos Makridis got Cyprus back into the game with 23 minutes to go. Cyprus almost scored in the 90th minute, but were foiled by goalkeeper Ofir Marciano.

Israel’s next game is against Bosnia at home on November 16.

Israel has never made it to the UEFA European Championship. Its best try came en route to the 2000 tournament, when it reached the play-offs but was defeated 8-0 on aggregate by Denmark.

France is hosting the 2016 championship.