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Coach under pressure / Kashtan's panic attack By Eitan Beckerman He's shaking in his pants. He looks visibly scared, has started to stutter again and is busy self-deprecating ahead of his match against a second-rate European rival. Supposedly, coach Dror Kashtan's behavior stems from his respect for the rival team that his players will face on Saturday, but who is he kidding? Switzerland is no powerhouse. If it isn't the perfect candidate for Israel to thrash then who is? And what's the story with saying "it's just one of 10 games," as Kashtan reminded the press. No, it isn't one in 10 games because if Israel loses the match tomorrow then it can wave its aspirations to take part in the World Cup goodbye. Even a draw will be a horrible way to start the campaign. In fact, there are only four big matches in the qualifying group: The home and away encounters against Switzerland and Greece. But Kashtan does not see that because he is in the midst of a panic attack. Advertisement He was scared in the previous campaign when he started with a defensive formation against Croatia and conceded goals that soon enough nullified Israel's chances of qualifying to the European championship. He did the same against England, the very same England that failed to qualify to the tournament, and celebrated a scoreless draw at home. Kashtan fears the old firms of Europe and so does his assistant manager, Moshe Sinai, who as a player had brief spell in Belgium before he ran back home to Israel. As a player Kashtan did not play against many European clubs. As a coach he would often lose to them. Things changed, however, when he coached the famous Hapoel Tel Aviv team whose ranks included the so-called "Kashtan's babes" of Yossi Abuksis and Shavit Elimelech. But their success in Europe was due in large part to a number of European players, which is why Kashtan still sees Europe as some sort of Mecca of soccer. Strategically, it makes sense preferring Israeli players who play abroad. Only Israelis that have tested their mettle in Europe are physically strong enough to take on the descendants of William Tell. His goal is to draw tomorrow, win against Molodva next week and have his job secured for many months to come. He believes that he can acheive that goal using the current aging regulars -also a mistake. Only that plan does not take into account that tomorrow's match is all-important and that it could, potentially, end very badly for him. Bookmark to del.icio.us   But you cannot hide Court rules Michigan resident helped liquidate Polish Jews during Holocaust. Junk TV Airing of first Palestinian soap opera was cancelled because topics were 'too liberal'.

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