Kashtan salutes brave Benayoun

Coach Dror Kashtan praised injured Israel captain Yossi Benayoun for his bravery following the 1-1 UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying draw against Russia in Moscow.

Under the weather
The West Ham United FC midfielder was in far from sparkling form in the Group E match but said he was willing to risk his fitness to help Israel's attempt to qualify for a first major tournament since the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. "The number of injections he received - I don't think there has ever been anything like it," Kashtan said. "The lad did everything he could, even if here and there things did not go as he had wanted. I salute him, he proved that the national team, the state of Israel and its symbols are important to him."

Nagging injury
Benayoun, 26, is suffering from a nagging calf injury and was rated as doubtful for the game, the result of which left Israel second in Group E behind England. "I had a poor game," he said. "I was in pain but I decided to ignore it. I felt this match was too important for me to miss." Israeli commentators applauded Kashtan's second-half substitutions which brought an equaliser from replacement Amit Ben Shushan, after Russia had taken an early lead through Andrei Arshavin.

Unbeaten run
The draw stretched Israel's unbeaten run to 13 competitive fixtures. The last time they lost a World Cup or UEFA European Championship qualifier was a 3-0 defeat by France in Paris in October 2003. Israel's next UEFA EURO 2008™ assignment is at home against Croatia on 15 November.