June 12, (THEWILL) – Israel’s Under-20 team has secured a commendable third-place finish in the World Cup, defeating South Korea 3-1 in a thrilling match.
Omer Senior and Anan Khalaili proved to be the heroes for Israel, finding the net in the final 14 minutes of the game at La Plata’s Diego Maradona stadium. This victory marked Israel’s first appearance in the tournament, concluding their remarkable campaign on a high note.
Israel, having previously stunned Brazil in the quarterfinals, experienced a setback when Uruguay halted their progress in the semi-finals on Friday. However, they quickly recovered from the disappointment and took the lead in the third-place play-off after just 20 minutes. Midfielder Ran Binyamin struck a powerful shot to put Israel ahead.
South Korea, which knocked Nigeria’s U20 team out of the competition, responded swiftly, equalising four minutes later from the penalty spot, as Seung-Won Lee converted their opportunity. In the second half, Israel dominated proceedings, and they came close to taking the lead when Senior had a goal disallowed for offside with 20 minutes remaining.
Nevertheless, their perseverance paid off as Senior found the back of the net six minutes later. Khalaili sealed the victory for Israel with four minutes left on the clock and received a yellow card for removing his shirt during the celebration.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
