Herzog names 23-man squad for Israel's Euro 2020 qualifiers - The Jewish Chronicle

Following an encouraging run at the Nations League, Herzog is confident Israel can qualify for the Euro finals for the first time. Herzog has named a 23-man squad for the opening matches against Slovenia in Haifa on March 21 and Austria on March 24. “We are ranked 92 by Fifa at the moment and have talented young players that in the long-term can put Israel in the top 30," said Herzog. “But as a manager I need immediate success and we have a good opportunity to qualify for Euro 2020." Israel were drawn in Group G as the third seeds, behind Poland and Austria and ahead of Slovenia, Macedonia and Latvia. With the top two teams qualifying and having avoided all the biggest European powers, Israel will never have a better chance of reaching the finals. Herzog has already put new fight into the team, which narrowly missed out on winning its Nations League group, with home victories over Albania and Scotland, before losing 3-2 to Scotland in Glasgow. Celtic's defensive midfielder Nir Bitton has returned to the squad after being sidelined for 11 months with a knee injury. There is also a recall for another Scottish-based player, Hibernian goalkeeper Ofer Marciano and two England-based players make the squad – Beram Kayal of Brighton and Tomer Hemed, who is on loan at QPR from Brighton. Herzog has been critical of Israeli attacking players for not helping out enough in defence and has omitted Maccabi Tel Aviv's Eliran Atar, Ligat Ha'Al's top-scorer. SQUAD: Goalkeepers: Ariel Harush (Hapoel Beer Sheva), Ofer Marciano (Hibernian), Yoav Jerafi (Ashdod) Defenders: Eli Dasa, Sheran Yeini (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Taleb Tawatha (Eintracht Frankfurt), Loai Taha, Hatem Abd Elhamed (Hapoel Beer Sheva), Aid Habshi (Maccabi Haifa), Omri Ben Harush (Lokeren) Midfielders: Bibras Nathko (captain) (Olympiacos), Beram Kayal (Brighton), Nir Bitton (Celtic), Almog Cohen (Ingolstadt), Yonatan Cohen, Dor Micah, Dan Glazer, Dor Peretz (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Manor Solomon (Shakhtar Donetsk) Forwards: Tomer Hemed (QPR), Eran Zahavi, Dia Saba (Guangzhou), Moanes Dabour (Red Bull Salzburg)