Israel 1 – 1 Northern Ireland: World Cup Qualifying Tune-Up

In less than a month, Israel plays two must-win games – against Latvia and Luxembourg – in its campaign to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

The country’s hopes for qualifying are slim but today in Belfast the team was able to play Northern Ireland to a 1-1 draw.

Grant McCann scored an excellent first half free kick for Northern Ireland, while Elyaniv Barda quickly equalized for the Israelis.

Both managers made plenty of substitutions in the second half and neither side managed to settle into any sort of flowing rhythm.

Interestingly, Israeli goal-scorer Barda has reportedly attracted interest from the EPL recently – with clubs like Portsmouth, Everton, and Bolton all interested. Perhaps his goal in Belfast will help him secure a move to the greatest league in the world?

Israel needs to win all 4 of its remaining WC qualifying games to force a play-off to get to South Africa. 3 wins and a draw may be enough, but 10 points (minimum) will need to be secured to leapfrog Greece and/or Switzerland. Morale isn’t high, but as always, we can continue to dream…