Steve McLaren praises the Israeli team:
“I would like to pay tribute to Israel for the professional way they went about their job. They showed what a proud nation they are and they deserve a lot of praise for their efforts.”
And to dispel the notion that Gordon Brown and company were not paying attention to just any sporting event, this was what David Miliband had to say.
“I want to say thank you very very much to the Israeli football team,” Foreign Secretary David Miliband said at a meeting with Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak. “Now every Englishman is cheering the Israeli nation for their great service to help us.”
And an old fashioned bribe…. errr… incentive seems to have worked. Omer Golan who scored the match winner is set to receive English millionaire Fred Done’s £50,000 Mercedes as a reward for his goal. On Friday, Done, founder of BetFred.com, offered his prized possession to any Israel player who scored the winner in the game.
Meanwhile Yossi Melman half jokingly conjectures that the win would dampen Israel Russia relations.
“The game against Israel has become a national craze,” Israeli Ambassador to Moscow Anna Azari said this weekend. “In the media and on the street the game is the only topic.”
Senior officials hinted jokingly to her that if Israel wanted to improve relations with Russia, especially concerning the delicate subject of Iran’s nuclear program, it would have done well to see that the game ended with the appropriate score.
It seems everyone and anyone concerned with Russian politics and business was at Ramat Gan to watch the match.
Kommersant befitting its image as the newspaper of the oligarchs was crowing about the GDP of the fans watching the Russia vs Israel match. Their total worth over $150m Amidst them were such moneybags as Roman Abramovich, Mikhail Prokhorov, Leonid Fedun, Lev Levaev, Arkady Gaidamak. The names of other rich and famed are the top secret yet.
But in the end Israel did itself no favours. And Shlomi Barzel gives Dror Kashtan and Israel a reality check.
“If Kashtan continues for another term as national team coach, don’t expect any positive answers.”