Second-half strikes from Hen Ezra scored and Shimon Abu Hazeira earned Israel a 2-0 victory in a friendly international against Honduras in New York.

Ezra opened the scoring at the Citi Field after 52 minutes, beating two defenders before lifting a shot over goalkeeper Noel Valladares.

A team including several fringe players saw Abu Hazeira seal the win 14 minutes from time when he collected a pass from Ezra before deftly lofting the ball over Valladares.

Israel boss Eli Guttman said the "win will be important ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan on September 6".

He went on to say: "We are returning to Israel with our head held high. Hen Ezra's goal is the reason people come to watch soccer. I'm also very happy for Abu Hazeria for scoring his first goal for Israel."