Israel Coach Ben Shimon Driven by Desire to Win Against Ireland

Israel's national team coach, Ran Ben Shimon, expressed his intense desire for victory in Sunday's upcoming match against Ireland, emphasizing its importance beyond personal ambition. "This game is important for me not from my personal aspect," Ben Shimon stated, "I will deal with all the things that are happening and all the things that are coming at us. The desire here... I don't remember wanting to win a game so much like this game, really, because there are many people who have tried, you know, to cast doubt on our integrity and everything."

Ben Shimon highlighted the team's moral and ethical values, stating, "I think we have an amazing, moral, ethical people. And I think I haven't done this until today, I don't want to combine and I don't want anything, you need to see a team that comes and understands that behind it stands... a country really stands that wants us to play better and to invest and to be proud of us."

Addressing player availability, the coach mentioned the medical team's efforts to recover all players, acknowledging that some decisions are beyond their control. He stressed that regardless of who plays, they must give their all, vowing not to repeat the poor performance from their previous 3-0 loss to Ireland in Hungary a week prior. "I can tell you that we lost with everyone and we won with everyone. Ultimately, whoever plays tomorrow needs to give everything they have in this game. It's really a game of emotions too that I... I have no doubt we won't come like last time. It was really, it looked very bad."

Ben Shimon outlined lessons learned from the previous defeat, focusing on refining approach, lineup, tactics, and emphasis rather than wholesale changes. He aims to instill a DNA of better reaction to setbacks and maintaining focus on the game, even when plans go awry. "At any given moment, you can return to the game, certainly during a game you don't make considerations of what will be afterwards, what they will say about us, what they will talk about us, but how to stay in the game." He believes the team is much improved and better prepared than in their last encounter with Ireland, citing a good performance against Kosovo as evidence, and aims to make supporters proud.