Hosts Israel were denied the perfect start to the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship after conceding a late equaliser against ten-man Norway.
Norway started the brighter but fell behind on 16 minutes when Israel captain Nir Biton kept his cool from the spot to score their first U21 final tournament goal. Tor Ole Skullerud's side were soon level through Marcus Pedersen, but found themselves down to ten when Vegar Hedenstad saw red just before the break.
Israel | Norway | ||
| 1 | Kleyman (GK) | 12 | Nyland Haskjold (GK) |
| 2 | Dasa | 4 | Strandberg (C) |
| 6 | Kabha | 5 | Hedenstad |
| 8 | Biton (C) | 6 | Elabdellaoui |
| 9 | Kalibat | 8 | Berget |
| 10 | Golasa | 10 | Pedersen |
| 11 | Dabbur | 14 | Semb Berge |
| 12 | Gotlib | 16 | de Lanlay |
| 13 | Twatha | 17 | Konradssen |
| 14 | Barouch | 18 | Eikrem |
| 20 | Ben Harush | 20 | Johansen |
Substitutes | |||
| 23 | Yanko (GK) | 1 | Østbø (GK) |
| 18 | B. Levi (GK) | 23 | Kongshavn (GK) |
| 3 | Davidzada | 2 | Linnes |
| 4 | I. Levi | 3 | Rogne |
| 5 | Vahaba | 7 | Singh |
| 7 | Zaguri | 11 | Nielsen |
| 15 | Turgeman | 19 | Kastrati |
| 16 | Verta | 22 | Ibrahim |
| 17 | Sallalich | ||
| 19 | Azam | ||
| 21 | Altman | ||
| 22 | Krieff | ||
Coaches | |||
| Guy Luzon (ISR) | Tor Ole Skullerud (NOR) | ||
Referee | |||
| Pawel Gil (POL) | |||
Legend:
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
Pawel Gil signals the end of an asborbing encounter at Netanya Municipal Stadium. Norway enjoyed the better of the play for long periods yet required an injury-time equaliser - their second of the evening - to rescue a point in the Group A opener. Israel, a man up for fully 45 minutes, may consider this an opportunity missed.