Israel’s Olympic Soccer Team Seen As Possible Finalist After Beating El Salvador

Israel’s Olympic soccer team, which has sustained some injuries and whose performance has not been quite up to par, is nevertheless considered by experts here to be a possible finalist by virtue of its 3-0 victory over El Salvador yesterday. The victory qualified the team for the quarter final stages of the tournament. Israel need only play to a draw with the powerful Hungarian team in tomorrow’s game to qualify to meet the runners-up in Group Four. Should Hungary beat Israel, the latter would be matched against the Group Three runner-up, which will probably be Bulgaria, against whom Israel has not done well in the past. But the fact that the Ghanaian team, which lost to Israel by a 5-3 score Sunday, held Hungary to a 2-2 draw yesterday, appears to give the Israelis a better chance against the latter. Some 10,000 spectators watched Israel’s game with El Salvador and there was loud support for Israel from a large contingent of Mexican Jews who cheered them with the traditional war cry, “El El Israel.” Two Ghanaian players who attacked a referee and Israeli team members after losing Sunday’s game were suspended for a full year by the Olympic disciplinary committee. Two other Ghanaians who were ordered off the field for rough play received two-game suspensions.