Hemed marks new arrival in style for Israel
Monday, October 13, 2014
Article summary
Eli Gutman said he told Tomer Hemed to take the late penalty to mark his becoming a father the previous day as Israel celebrated a job well done against improving Andorra.
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Article body
• Eli Gutman says he instructed new father Tomer Hemed to take penalty
• Koldo Álvarez admits he thought victory was in Andorra's grasp at 1-1
• Omer Damari struck a hat-trick in 4-1 win for Israel
• Next games: Cyprus v Andorra, Israel v Bosnia and Herzegovina (16 November)
Koldo Álvarez, Andorra coach
My team were competitive, but we can't be happy after conceding four goals. I saw chances for the win, especially after we made it 1-1. We had our tails up for a while and had some opportunities. After the match in Belgium we wanted to improve going forward, create a few more chances, and we succeeded in that regard.
Eli Gutman, Israel coach
Playing the long ball against Andorra was not a good solution, like we played against Wales. We had to play quickly, with a lot of short passes and wait for Andorra to lose concentration. Yesterday it rained a lot and the playing surface was wet so the ball ran faster and it was better for our football.
I decided that Tomer Hemed should take the penalty because he became a father yesterday and, as he showed, he's good from the spot.
Tal Ben Haim, Israel captain
We can be very happy. We picked up the first six points, which is a very good start. It was a very difficult game against a team that always defends. It was not easy but we played some good football and we had a lot big chances to score.
