When Israel has announced the national team squad for the next international break, there was one surprising name – Joel Abu Hanna.
The anonymous player will try to take his chance in the national team in a difficult period.
More than a year ago, Israel was still dreaming about a chance to qualify for the Euro 2020. The newly appointed manager, Andreas Herzog, began the qualifying campaign well, and the team ranked in the third place. In September 2019, things became much harder. It started with a draw against North Macedonia, continued with a defeat away in Slovenia with a decisive goal in the last minute, and the team won only once in the previous six matches.
Israel finished in fifth place but had a last chance to qualify in the playoffs. They were scheduled to play against Scotland in the semi-finals in March, but the coronavirus delayed the playoffs to an unknown date. As time went by, the situation became more difficult, as more and more football activities in Israel were cancelled.
A month ago, the FA announced officially that Andreas Herzog has decided to terminate his contract at the national team. After a few weeks of interviewing candidates, including former Chelsea manager, Avram Grant, and the former international footballer, Eyal Berkovic, the FA took a massive decision. With budget problems and an uncertain future, they decided that they can't afford themselves to appoint a manager with high wages. Therefore, the newly appointed manager was Willi Ruttensteiner, the current sports director of the national team.
Ruttensteiner's appointment was taken in doubt by journalists in Israel, but it wasn't the only problem that Israel faced before the next matches. Israel is considered a "red" country by the European Union, and there was a chance that the national team will need to move the home matches to another country. The first home match will be against Slovakia on September 7, and currently, it is supposed to be played in Israel.
The Austrian caretaker was the man behind the scenes in the national team when Herzog was the manager, and it seems that he will try to continue on the same path. One of these steps was to call-up Joel Abu Hanna, an unknown player by the Israeli fans. Abu Hanna was born in Germany to an Arab-Israeli father. He played in the youth teams of Bayer Leverkusen and was recently signed by Zorya Luhansk from Ukraine. He represented Germany's youth teams, including playing in the U-17 Euro and the U-17 World Cup in 2015.
Abu Hanna, a 22-year-old center-back, is not completely unfamiliar with Israeli football. Five years ago, he played with the U-17 national team of Germany against Israel. He was marked by Alon Hazan, who was back then the U-17 national team manager, and today he is the senior team assistant manager. His talent also attracts Palestinian journalists and football fans, who wished that Abu Hanna will join other Palestinian-origin players who weren’t born in Palestine.
The call-up of Abu Hanna is keeping some of the ideas that led the national team during Herzog's era. One of them was giving an opportunity to players who weren't known in Israel, such as Ilay Elmkies, who never played in Israel before. Elmkies got his first call-up to the national team when he was 19 years old and played for Hoffenheim II. It wasn't the only reason for calling Abu Hanna to the squad, as Israel faced major problems in the defence during the last campaign, conceding 18 goals in 10 matches.
Ruttensteiner's debut will be against Scotland in the UEFA Nations League, one month before both teams will play again in Glasgow in the Euro 2020 playoffs. The manager will be more confident after the Israeli FA, and Guangzhou R&F announced that the team's top scorer, Eran Zahavi, will join the national team. The squad will include some of the in-form internationals, such as Manor Solomon, who reached the Europa League semi-final with Shakhtar Donetsk, Shon Weissman, the Austrian Bundesliga top scorer, and Munas Dabbur, who is ready to begin another season in Hoffenheim. Partizan Belgrade's Bibars Natcho is likely to continue as the team captain.
It will be a challenging situation for Israel and their new manager. Would it be a chance for Joel Abu Hanna, the unpredicted player to be part of the squad, to shine?
Photo via Joel Abu Hanna Instagram account.
