The support of the fans of the Israeli team this Thursday in the stadium of the Argentine city of La Plata. Natacha Pisarenko (APS)
Hatikva, Israel’s national anthem, rang out loudly to drums and trumpets in the city of La Plata, about 60 kilometers south of Buenos Aires, this Thursday. Israel’s U-20 team caused a surprise at the World Cup in Argentina and played the pass into the final against Uruguay. He did it on the spot. Argentina’s Jewish community, the largest in Latin America, gave their support in the hundreds. A 60th-minute rebound goal spoiled the afternoon and Uruguay eventually qualified, but that didn’t dampen the Israeli party in what was the most striking event of an emergency World Cup.
The cup should have been played in Indonesia. But rejection by some local authorities of Israel’s presence prompted FIFA to withdraw the organization from the Muslim-majority country two months before its inception. The world football government had decided that Indonesia would no longer host the tournament after complaining from the governor of the island of Bali in the south of the archipelago, who had threatened not to host the Hebrew team on its territory. Indonesia condemns Israel’s military occupation of Palestine and has no diplomatic relations with that country. The threat sapped the patience of FIFA, which was scrambling to find a new venue after the tournament had aired for two weeks. It was an opportunity for Argentina: his U-20 team, who are the biggest champions of the competition with six titles, were left without a place this year after a bad move in the South American competition.
Argentina U20s, despite the fresh memory of millions of people taking to the streets to celebrate the World Cup in Qatar, sparked little enthusiasm and were knocked out by Nigeria in the round of 16. Without the locals in the tournament, Israel caused the surprise. The Hebrew team, whose qualification for the tournament had caused a diplomatic uproar at FIFA, went from outcast to surprise and drew crowds. In San Juan, a thousand kilometers from the center of the country from Buenos Aires, the Hebrew team struck the blow and defeated Brazil in front of their fans.
“I’m Jewish, it’s a feeling I can’t stop!” was one of the reversals of the songs heard in Argentina’s stadiums and most commonly sung at La Plata Stadium when Israel played against Colombia and Senegal competed or Uruguay in the city next to Buenos Aires. “Because not all of us know Hebrew because most of us are Argentine Jews, Argentine football songs are sung with Israel in the middle,” explained a teenager wearing a jersey from Atlanta, a Buenos Aires neighborhood team dedicated to the community identified, in an interview video published by FIFA. “Seeing our brothers play in Argentina makes me proud and loves it,” said another man.
The tournament will be decided by Uruguay against the winner of the other semi-final between Italy and South Korea on Sunday in La Plata. Israel, playing their first world tournament since 1970, will set third place at the stadium later that day.
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