Former Under-19 coach moves up to senior squad ahead of Nations League and busy summer.
The Israel National Team gets back to business next week as the blue-and-white will take part in the UEFA Nations League.
The Nations League will be linked to the 2024 European Championships and a chance to qualify for the tournament through one of the three allocated places in addition to the standard qualifying competition. Israel will be in a group that consists of Albania and Iceland while the last member, Russia, was banned from the competition due to the conflict with Ukraine.
The blue-and-white will turn a new page as Alon Hazan will be on the sidelines as the games get under way on Thursday June 2 as well as for two more contests the following week in Albania and Iceland.
Hazan, who had been most recently in charge of the Israel Under-19 squad, was appointed by Sports Director Yossi Benayoun to replace Willi Ruttenstiener and is tasked with leading the way for the blue-and-white as it looks to advance to their first major tournament since 1970 when it played at the World Cup in Mexico.
The Ashdod native was an active player from 1984 through 2004 and featured prominently with Maccabi Haifa, where he won a league championship and two State Cups, and Hapoel Petah Tikva where he captured a State Cup as well before ending his playing career with his hometown team of Ashdod SC.
Hazan also made 72 appearances for the Israel National Team between 1990-2000 while his time in the system as a coach began in 2008 with the Under-16 squad.
Hazan has been the caretaker manager on a couple of occasions for the senior team and then served under the past two head coaches Andi Herzog and Ruttensteiner from 2018-2021 before guiding the U19’s beginning in March of 2021.
As the new campaign is about to begin, Hazan reflected on his new position and the various challenges he foresees ahead.
“There is no question that this is an exciting position to be in,” Hazan began. “It also brings me back to the days when I began as a player and as a coach.
To be appointed as the Israel National Team coach is not just a job for me but it is one of the proudest positions to be in. It’s being an ambassador for my country, my nation. I understand that this is a huge and important mission and I hope that I can contain my emotions as there is a lot of hard work ahead for us all to succeed.”
Benayoun, who has been a part of the national team for over 20 years, had spoken to a myriad of potential candidates for the position including a number of coaches abroad, but ultimately he felt that Hazan was the right individual to be tasked with the job.