Varela Could End the Israel Premier League’s World Cup Drought

Cape Verde faces Spain tonight, Monday, in a World Cup match, and Maccabi Tel Aviv winger Helio Varela is expected to start on the bench. If he appears, he could become the first player from Israel’s Premier League to take part in a World Cup since Nigerian midfielder Joao Oshaniwa in 2014. There was no Premier League representative at the 2022 tournament, and in 2018 neither John Ogu nor Predrag Rajkovic played.

Varela’s presence at the tournament also affects Maccabi Tel Aviv financially, since the club cannot use him in training during the event. The payment is not tied to his performances or minutes, only to the time he spends at the tournament, and in his second year with the club it is estimated at about $7,300 per day in the group stage.

He contributed an assist in the second half of Cape Verde’s warm-up match against Serbia after coming on for captain Ryan Mendes. He did not play in the other preparation game, a 3-0 win over Bermuda. Against Spain, Opta gives Cape Verde only a 4.8% chance of an upset, compared with 87.2% for a Spanish win.

Other players linked to the Israeli league are also involved in World Cup action. Kenji Gora did not feature in Curacao’s 7-1 loss to Germany, Kristian Martinez is expected to start for Panama, and former Maccabi Haifa winger Frantzdy Pierrot completed 90 minutes in Haiti’s 1-0 defeat to Scotland.