Wants to be there with his team at the 2024 European Football Championship in Germany: Israel’s national coach Alon Hazan Image: picture alliance / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Israel’s national coach Alon Hazan talks in an interview about sport and politics during the war, the “horror” of the civilians killed and how to deal with protests before the European Championship qualifier against Iceland.
Mr. Hazan, as coach of the Israeli national soccer team, your priority in the game against Iceland this Thursday (8:45 p.m., DAZN) is to qualify for the European Championships in Germany. What significance does football have in Israel in times of war?
I think that football is very important for the country and for the people, because we don’t have many places where we can meet in such a diverse way. It happens in all cities as soon as you play football. It doesn’t matter whether someone is Christian, Muslim or Jewish. It takes place without borders, without politics. So we have a football culture here that can bring together all people with different values and different backgrounds. We can be here in a place where people can meet each other without any problems. And in Israel we saw how successful that can be in football: ‘Come over and play. Make sure you do your job well enough as a footballer and one day you too can be part of the national team.’ Every citizen of the country is grateful that we have, for example, talented Arab players in the national team. And right now it would be an important signal of hope for our country if we qualify for the European Championships.