2013 Uefa European Under-21 Championship 2011/13 Season Match Press Kit
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2013 UEFA EUROPEAN UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP 2011/13 SEASON MATCH PRESS KIT Israel Norway Group A - Matchday 1 Netanya Municipal Stadium, Netanya Wednesday 5 June 2013 18.00CET (19.00 local time) Contents Previous meetings.............................................................................................................2 Match background.............................................................................................................3 Team facts.........................................................................................................................4 Squad list...........................................................................................................................6 Head coach.......................................................................................................................8 Match officials....................................................................................................................9 Match-by-match lineups..................................................................................................10 Competition facts.............................................................................................................11 Competition information..................................................................................................13 Legend............................................................................................................................14 Israel v Norway Wednesday 5 June 2013 - 18.00CET (19.00 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Netanya Municipal Stadium, Netanya Previous competitive meetings Head to Head None Last updated 04/06/13 19:13:53CET 2 Previous competitive meetings Israel v Norway Wednesday 5 June 2013 - 18.00CET (19.00 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Netanya Municipal Stadium, Netanya Match background Israel and Norway have waited a long time to return to the UEFA European U21 Championship final tournament and will be eager to make a positive start when they meet in the opening round of Group A games. • Hosts Israel made their only previous appearance in the finals six years ago, although Norway's wait has been even longer; they finished third in the 1998 competition, but that was the last time they progressed from qualifying. • The man who led Norway to these finals, Per Joar Hansen, left to take charge of Rosenborg BK in December 2012. His former U21 assistant Tor Ole Skullerud was appointed as his replacement with the national team on 3 January. How they qualified • Israel qualified automatically as hosts, and will appear in the final tournament for only the second time having made their debut in 2007. • Norway finished second behind England in Group 8 with a record of P8 W5 D1 L2 F13 A7. They then overcame France in the play-offs, overturning a 1-0 loss in the away first leg with a 5-3 home victory. Previous meetings • This will be the teams' first competitive meeting at U21 level. Norway were, however, 2-0 winners against Israel in the 2008 European U19 Championship elite round thanks to two Peter Orry Larsen goals. Amin Nouri, Håvard Nordtveit and Harmeet Singh all started for Norway with Ben Butbul in the Israel lineup and Boris Klaiman an unused substitute. Match background • Israel's only previous final tournament appearance came six years ago, when a team coached by Guy Levy lost all three fixtures in the Netherlands, against Portugal (0-4), Belgium and the hosts (both 0-1). • Israel have won three of their last four competitive U21 contests and both their last two having ended their unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the 2011 finals with a 5-0 home win against Montenegro and a 2-1 success in Sweden. • Norway have also featured in just one finals to date, back in Romania in 1998. Having qualified ahead of France, they defeated Sweden 1-0 in the quarter-finals thanks to a Steffen Iversen goal but lost by the same scoreline to Spain in the last four. Nils Johan Semb's side bounced back to defeat the Netherlands 2-0 in the third-place play-off, however, Iversen scoring in each half (17, 74) to secure the spoils. Team ties • Norway's Omar Elabdellaoui and Nir Biton of Israel were both in the Manchester City FC team for a 1-0 friendly defeat by Al-Hilal FC in Innsbruck, Austria on 13 July 2012. While trialist Biton played in the first half, Elabdellaoui came on at the interval. • Thomas Rogne plays alongside senior Israeli internationals Beram Kayal and Rami Gershon at Celtic FC. Israel news • The Israel squad is free of injury as Munas Dabbur, Orr Barouch and Edi Gotlib are all over the setbacks that sidelined them for the back end of the domestic season. • The team paid a visit to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the opening match. Netanyahu asked the team to represent Israel with honour and added: "Sometimes I try to play football myself but it doesn't end well." • Guy Luzon, who will leave after the tournament to coach Belgian side R. Standard de Liège, said of the opening match: "It will be the most exciting day of my life." • Three days before their opener against Norway, the players and staff attended Eyal Golan's show in Jerusalem. A former footballer, Golan is now a professional music artist who wrote, and sings, the official tournament song. Norway news • The squad were put through their paces one last time in Oslo before travelling to Israel on Saturday. • There are no fresh injury concerns for coach Tor Ole Skullerud since AZ Alkmaar midfielder Markus Henriksen replaced defender Alexander Groven, ruled out with a thigh injury on Monday. • Valon Berisha, Joshua King, Håvard Nordtveit and Henriksen are part of the senior squad to face Albania in a FIFA World Cup qualifier on Friday, therefore missing Norway's Group B opener. • "We are looking forward to playing against the best young players in Europe, and we know that we have lots of quality in our side as well. Our aim has to be to compete for top spot in the group," said former Manchester United FC striker King. Last updated 04/06/13 19:13:53CET 3 Match background Israel v Norway Wednesday 5 June 2013 - 18.00CET (19.00 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Netanya Municipal Stadium, Netanya Team facts Israel Final tournament record 2007: group stage All-time competitive record P91 W37 D19 L35 2011–13 friendlies P14 W5 D2 L7 F18 A17 Top scorers: Orr Barouch (5) Ever presents: None Israel U21s capped at senior level Eyal Golasa (7 caps), Nir Biton (6), Taleb Twatha (3), Omri Ben Harush (2) Players with previous U21 final tournament experience None Most capped player All-time: Arik Benado (39) Current: Boris Kleyman, Omri Ben Harush, Nir Biton (18) Leading scorer All-time: Alon Mizrahi (15) Current: Orr Barouch (5) Biggest wins Final tournament: N/A Qualifying: Israel 6-0 Austria 26/10/1993 Group stage, Herzliya Stadium, Herzliya Heaviest defeats Final tournament: Portugal 4-0 Israel 16/06/2007 Group stage, Euroborg Stadium, Groningen Qualifying: Austria 5-1 Israel 27/10/1992 Group stage, Bundesstadion Südstadt, Sudstadt Israel 0-4 Spain 13/10/1998 Group stage, Herzliya Stadium, Herzliya Last updated 04/06/13 19:13:53CET 4 Team facts Israel v Norway Wednesday 5 June 2013 - 18.00CET (19.00 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Netanya Municipal Stadium, Netanya Norway Final tournament record 1998: third place All-time competitive record P145 W65 D27 L53 2013 qualifying (including play-off) P10 W7 D1 L2 F13 A7 Top scorers: Jo Inge Berget, Marcus Pedersen, Thomas Rogne, Harmeet Singh (all 2) Ever presents: Harmeet Singh, Stefan Strandberg, Vegar Hedenstad Norway U21s capped at senior level Markus Henriksen (16 caps), Valon Berisha (9), Magnus Eikrem (9), Håvard Nordtveit (9), Joshua King (5), Vegar Hedenstad (4), Harmeet Singh (3), Jo Inge Berget (3), Anders Konradssen (2), Thomas Rogne (2), Marcus Pedersen (2), Fredrik Semb Berge (2), Yann-Erik de Lanlay (2), Håvard Nielsen (2) Players with previous U21 tournament experience None Most capped player All-time: Tommy Svindal Larsen (41) Current: Harmeet Singh (35) Leading scorer All time: Trond Fredrik Ludvigsen (16) Current: Marcus Pedersen (7) Biggest wins Final tournament: Norway 2-0 Netherlands, 31/05/1998 1998 third-place play-off, Cotroceni, Bucharest Qualifying: Norway 6-0 Italy 05/06/1991 1992 qualifying group stage, Viking stadion, Stavanger Heaviest defeats Final tournament: Spain 1-0 Norway 27/05/1998 1998 semi-final, Cotroceni, Bucharest Qualifying: England 6-0 Norway 06/09/1977 1978 qualifying group stage, Goldstone Ground, Brighton Last updated 04/06/13 19:13:53CET 5 Team facts Israel v Norway Wednesday 5 June 2013 - 18.00CET (19.00 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Netanya Municipal Stadium, Netanya Squad list Israel Current season Overall Qual. FT U21 No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers 1 Boris Kleyman 26/10/90 22 Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC - - - - - - - 18 Barak Levi 07/01/93 20 Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC - - - - - - - 23 Arik Yanko 21/12/91 21 Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC - - - - - - - Defenders 2 Eliazer Dasa 03/12/92 20 Beitar Jerusalem FC - - - - - - - 3 Ofir Davidzada 05/05/91 22 Hapoel Beer Sheva FC - - - - - - - 4 Ido Levi 31/07/90 22 Maccabi Netanya FC - - - - - - - 5 Ben Vahaba 27/03/92 21 Hapoel Beer Sheva FC - - - - - - - 12 Edi Gotlib 16/08/92 20 Hapoel Akko FC - - - - - - - 13 Taleb Twatha 21/06/92 20 Maccabi Haifa FC - - - - - - - 16 Ofer Verta 23/05/90 23 FC Ashdod - - - - - - - 20 Omri Ben Harush 07/03/90 23 Maccabi Netanya FC - - - - - 2 - Midfielders 6 Marwan Kabha 23/02/91 22 Maccabi Petach-Tikva FC - - - - - - - 7 Israel Zaguri 29/01/90 23 Hapoel