Wednesday, June 28, 2023
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Israel’s under-20 men’s soccer teams celebrates winning third place at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in La Plata, Argentina, June 11. Marcio Machado/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
LA PLATA, Argentina – Israel won third place in the U-20 World Cup on June 11, capping a historic run in its first-ever appearance at the tournament by beating South Korea 3-1.
Local Jews and Israeli visitors made up a large portion of the crowd of over 15,000 at the stadium in La Plata, Argentina, a city about 40 miles outside of Buenos Aires. Israel’s success at the tournament, which is meant to showcase the next generation of global soccer stars, has been a galvanizing event for South American Jews.
“We were so welcomed,” Ofir Haim, the Israeli team’s coach, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency after the match. “How they sing the [Israeli] national anthem, Hatikvah, is very moving for me and the players.”
He added, “At the 85th minute, I heard the fans singing the anthem. They created an atmosphere as if we were at home. It’s impossible to describe the feeling.”
The victory against South Korea came at the end of a surprising string of wins for the Israeli team, which beat Uzbekistan and Japan before shocking Brazil, one of the world’s best teams, in the quarterfinals. Israel lost 1-0 in the semifinals earlier in the week to Uruguay, which won the tournament in a separate match on Sunday by beating Italy.
“Two days ago I was disappointed because we couldn’t reach the final,” El Yam Kancepolsky, an Israeli midfielder, told JTA. “But now I’m very happy. Third place in the world is amazing.”
Roby Schindler, the president of Uruguay’s umbrella Jewish organization, the Comité Central Israelita de Uruguay, said this was the result he had been hoping for.
“I want Uruguay to be the world champion,” he said. “And I also want Israel to win third place.”
Israel victory in the consolation match came despite a decision by the Israel Football Association to recall five of its key players so they could join Israeli teams ahead of upcoming matches in Europe.
And Israeli soccer got another piece of good news: Argentina’s national soccer team, which won last year’s World Cup, announced it will play a friendly match in Israel next year.
“We are not players, we are a family with an amazing coach,” said midfielder Roy Navi. “I feel on the top of the world now.”
The Israeli team received a warm welcome upon arriving at a hotel in Buenos Aires for the tournament. Around 80 members of the local Jewish community joined the team at a two-hour event that included speeches and an introductory video. An organizer said it sold out in person within five minutes.
But at the same time as the welcome event, around 10 blocks away, a group of demonstrators participated in a protest commemorating the Nakba, the term meaning “catastrophe” that Palestinians use to describe their displacement during and after Israel’s founding.
“The [Israeli] national soccer team is the most representative team in the country because it is composed of the diversity that comprises the state of Israel, a state of all of its citizens, regardless of religion or ethnicity,” said Alejandro Mellincovsky, the director for Spanish-speaking countries at the World Zionist Organization, which organized the welcome event. The Israeli team includes three Arab players.
In the 1-0 loss to the eventual winner Uruguay, the game drew a crowd of 27,000 at the stadium in La Plata, also with a large turnout of local Jews and Israeli visitors cheering on the Israelis. They chanted in Hebrew and waved Israeli flags while rooting for a team that repeatedly came from behind for a series of stunning underdog wins en route to the semifinal.
“The support from the Jewish community really helped us,” midfielder Kancepolsly told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency after the match. “Soccer in Israel is improving, we have a good generation, and the people understand what we can do.”
Israel had previously qualified for only one World Cup, the general edition in 1970, at which they scored one goal and did not make it past the first round. In this tournament, the team scored 11 times.
The competition was originally slated to be played in Indonesia, which protested Israel’s participation. FIFA objected and moved the tournament to Argentina, home to a Jewish community of close to 200,000.
“It’s shocking, we have a very good future in Israeli soccer.,” said Ilan Zarfati, father of Israeli team’s goalkeeper, Tomer Zarfati.
But beyond showcasing a new generation of talent, Israel’s firstever appearance in the under-20 tournament brought together South American Jewish fans, highlighting the strong pro-Israel sentiment in their communities. Jewish groups and community centers held watch parties, and thousands showed up to the team’s games.
At the game against Uruguay, Israeli fans brought 500 t-shirts emblazoned with Stars of David that they gave away to fellow supporters in the stands. Members of the Hasidic Chabad-Lubavitch movement brought tefillin to Jewish fans in the stands and outside the stadium in La Plata.
Fabian Zaidenberg, the rabbi of the Jewish community in Mendoza – a city over 600 miles west of Buenos Aires – said the tournament brought him mixed emotions.
“On Shavuot here, we can’t get a minyan,” he said, then noted that, “It is incomparable how attractive an Israeli match is … 500 from our community were at the field.
“I was there with families of the community, it was a big joy, it was a party of sports and identity. What is a kind of contradiction, or in fact what hurts me, is the big difference in the appeal of a soccer match in comparison with an activity on Shavuot or an activity in a synagogue,” he added.
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