A soccer ball. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Israel’s under-21 national soccer team ended their match against Germany on Thursday with a 1-1 draw as the two teams competed in a Group C game as part of the 2023 UEFA European U-21 Championship final tournament at the Ramaz Shengelias Sakhelobis Stadioni in Georgia.

Israel’s Dor David Turgeman scored the lone goal for this team and Germany’s Yann Aurel Bisseck followed suit shortly after in a game that was also played in the rain. Despite Germany maintaining 71 percent of possession and 16 of the 21 goal attempts throughout the game, the Israeli team did not back down and the match finished in a tie, even though Israel was a man short and only had 10 players on the field, according to UEFA.

Germany, England, Switzerland in action…#U21EURO pic.twitter.com/WM7H1HPcxm

— #U21EURO (@UEFAUnder21) June 22, 2023

“We let a huge chance go,” said Antonio Di Salvo, head coach of Germany’s U-21 national team, following the match. “We dominated the game, we had a whole half with a numerical advantage, missed two penalties, and we really let this chance go. We started well in the first 15 to 20 minutes with the penalty and the control. Then we were asleep for a moment and conceded a goal that was just too easy. Despite that, we reacted quickly and made it 1-1. I’m not happy with the second half though … today we’ll be disappointed and bitter but tomorrow we’ll set our sights on the future.”

Israel’s Daniel Peretz made two penalty saves, from two different players, to help his team earn a draw. He said after the game that he was proud of his team’s performance.

“We came as the underdogs and we made one point,” he told UEFA. “We played with only 10 players for almost 55-60 minutes, including added time. We made an amazing team effort and we played with one man less, and I’m just so proud of the players and all the squad and staff who have made this achievement.”

Israel will next face England on Sunday in the UEFA Euro U-21 while Germany will go head-to-head that day with Czechia. The tournament is taking place in both Romania and Georgia from June 21 until July 8.

Germany’s U-21 national soccer team has won their opening match at each of the last three U-21 tournaments and are in the finals for the sixth time in a row, according to UEFA. They have two UEFA European Under-21 Championship titles from 2017 and 2021 and were runners-up in 2019.

Israel is in its third U-21 final tournament following their performance in 2007, which was the only time they made it through the qualifying round, and as hosts in 2013. Several players on Israel’s U-21 team recently returned from competing for a month in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina.