Last update - 00:00 29/03/2007
Soccer / Euro 2008 / Sahar strikes twice in 4-0 rout of Estonia
By Reuters
A star was born last night as Ben Sahar scored two late goal to set alight the National Stadium and set Israel on the way to a 4-0 win over Estonia that kept alive its Euro 2008 qualification hopes.
The result left Israel level with Russia and England on 11 points, while Croatia tops Group E with 13 points. Russia and Croatia have a game in hand.
Israel dominated the clash from the outset in what was perhaps the most one-sided encounter at Ramat Gan since a 7-0 rout of the same Estonia team eight years ago.
Bolton Wanderers' Idan Tal and Roberto Colautti of Maccabi Haifa, who both served a one-match suspension and missed Saturday's 0-0 draw with England, celebrated their return to the starting lineup with the opening goals.
Tal scored the first after 20 minutes when he drilled a powerful low shot from the edge of the area right in front of goal, leaving outstretched Estonian goalkeeper Mart Poom with no chance as he dived to his left.
Colautti added the second goal when he rose high to head in at the far post from a cross from Beitar Jerusalem right-back Amit Ben Shushan.
Chelsea teenager Sahar, 17, who came on in the 64th minute as a substitute for Beitar's Toto Tamuz, made it 3-0 in the 77th minute when he pounced forward to tip the ball with his toe and lob the ball over Poom.
Three minutes later, he added another with a curling shot from the edge of the area.
Estonia's only chance came in the 71st minute when substitute Tarmo Kink was left unmarked and headed the ball at the far post only to be denied by Aouate who tipped the ball away for a corner. "It was really important for me to make an early impact on the game and I'm glad that it ended with two goals for me," Sahar told reporters after the match. "I showed my ability just like I do for Chelsea, but I really hope that [Chelsea coach] Jose Mourinho was watching the game."
Beitar's Shimon Gershon, one of the veteran members of the team, spared no praise for Sahar.
"I had shivers when Sahar scored his first goal. "It's great that we have a young striker developing here who is already scoring goals at international level."
Israel coach Dror Kashtan noted the influence of Sahar and the other young players in his squad.
"We are in a process of integrating young players into the team," Kashtan said. "We have a very talented generation of youngsters and we need to nurture them so they can bring us even better results in the current campaign and in future campaigns. We put pressure on Estonia from the start and created a lot of opportunities. My only regret is that we turned down the pace in the second half."
Estonia coach Jelle Goes said the match had been his team's worst of the campaign.
"Just as our opening game in Tallinn was the best of our campaign, the match at Ramat Gan was our worst," Goes said. "Israel was without a doubt the better team and deserved to win. There is no shame in losing to Israel, but the result was exaggerated."
Captain Yossi Benayoun and defender Tal Ben Haim will miss Israel's next game against Macedonia after picking up their third yellow card of the campaign.