JERUSALEM, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Just one day after being officially appointed general manager of the Israeli national team, former star Yossi Benayoun on Thursday fired head coach Marco Balbul, according to a statement issued by the Israel Football Association (IFA).
The former Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal player has decided to fire the coach due to disagreements regarding goalkeeper Daniel Peretz ahead of Israel's friendly match against Germany on March 26.
Balbul had planned to include 21-year-old Peretz in the line-up for the match in Germany, but Benayoun preferred that the goalkeeper be called up for the under-21 Israeli team's matches against Poland and Germany in the European qualifiers on March 24 and 29, respectively.
"I tried to explain to Marco in a lot of ways, he was not convinced," Benayoun said in a press conference. "I have to give the under-21 team all the tools to qualify for the Euro final tournament."
He added that "Israel has not had many happy moments from the national teams, and we have such an opportunity with the younger team."
In early February, with the dismissal of Austrian coach Willi Ruttensteiner, Balbul was appointed as interim head coach ahead of Israel's friendly matches in Germany and against Romania on March 29.
IFA Chairman Oren Hason then said that Balbul is definitely an appropriate candidate for the position of permanent head coach to be appointed soon. ■
