No World Cup for Israel, after 3-1 defeat to Russia

Israel’s attempt to qualify for soccer’s World Cup for the first time since 1970 came to an end Tuesday, as Russia handed the blue-and-white a whopping 3-1 loss.

The team arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia with its back to the wall and only a slim chance of making it through to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, after dropping crucial points at home to Azerbaijan on Saturday night.

While the blue-and-white held their ground during the first 45 minutes, the second half was an entirely different story. The Russian squad held on to the ball, creating chance after chance around Israel’s box.

After four minutes of pressure, CSKA Moscow’s Vasili Berezuski scored the first goal of the match, putting the Russians up 1-0.

Two and half minutes later, Aleksander Kokorin placed the ball in the Israeli goal once again with a brilliant strike from just outside the box.

In the 74th minute, the Russians were awarded a penalty after Eran Zehavi touched the ball with his hand in the box. Though Israeli goalkeeper Dudu Awat managed to stop the free kick, Denis Glushakov pounced on the rebound, putting the home team up 3-0.

Zehavi managed to score Israel’s only goal of the match deep into injury time, setting the final result of the match.

The loss came less than 24 hours after the basketball team was eliminated from the 2013 EuroBasket, making the start of the Jewish year very disappointing for Israeli sport fans.