INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY
Czech Republic 2 Israel 1

Israel's preparations for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers continued with a 2-1 defeat in an international friendly against Euro 2012 finalists the Czach Republic.

Milan Baros, the former Liverpool striker, put the hosts ahead with a 17th-minute penalty, awarded after he was brought down by goalkeeper Ariel Harush, before Itay Shechter drew Israel level with a header on the stroke of half-time.

The Czech's, who rested Premier League stars Petr Cech and Tomas Rosicky, settled the contest in the last minute with a deflected strike from David Lafata.

Israel captain Yossi Benayoun commented: "We are frustrated with the result. We worked hard and at times played well.

"The target of friendly matches is to try out different things and we will learn from our mistakes and improve together.

"The Czechs have a very strong team and it is no coincidence that they qualified for Euro 2012. There’s no reason to get worked up about the result because overall there were also positives."