In a truly incredible benchmark, Israel's national youth soccer team made history late Tuesday night, beating France to advance to its first European final.
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The under-19 men's team will face England on Friday in Trnava, Slovakia for the final.
Their victory over France also gave them a spot for the first time at the FIFA under-20 World Cup in Indonesia in 2023.
The team also qualified for the semi-finals for the first time over the weekend. An Israeli team had never gone that far in the tournament.
"Proud of our youth team that made history and qualified for the Euro finals!" Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Twitter.
France was considered a tough rival even by national team coach Ofir Haim, who prior to the match said that his players would have to "make up with intellect and wisdom" for the speed and physical ability to stand a chance against the European team.
"Congratulations to coach Ofir Haim and the talented players who showed us that when you work hard together – it works," he added. "We have a young, wonderful and hopeful generation that brings us joy in all areas."
The match was an exciting one, with France accidentally scoring on its own goal in the 30-minute mark, giving Israel a 1-0 lead. At 57 minutes, Israeli midfielder El Yam Kancepolsky scored when he headed the ball into the goal, to make the game 2-0. France eventually scored once but lost 2-1.
The team, as stated, made history beforehand over the weekend by qualifying for the semi-finals.
Israel finished with a 2-2 draw against Serbia in its opening game of the competition on June 19 and was victorious 4-2 over Austria three days later. They lost 0-1 on Saturday to England, but still finished second in their grouping and qualified for the semi-finals.
Culture and Sports Minister Chili Tropper congratulated the Israeli team on making it to the semi-finals. In a statement, he told the team: "You brought determination and the spirit of victory to the field and proved just how much you are real winners."
Haim told Kan News on Sunday that reaching the semi-finals was a "tremendously exciting" achievement for the athletes."
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