Emmanuel LANGELLIER, Media365: published on Wednesday October 9, 2024 at 3:54 p.m.
Anan Khalaili (20) should be Israel’s leading striker against the France team on Thursday evening in Budapest.
Not necessarily always struggling against the France team during the past 9 clashes, Israel aims to annoy the Blues, Thursday evening in Budapest in the League of Nations. Dominated during its first two outings by Belgium (1-3) and Italy (1-2) in September, the Israeli selection will count in particular on Anan Khalaili to pose problems for the French defense which will be protected in particular by Aurélien Tchouaméni , the new captain of the Blues in this meeting. This young 20-year-old striker stands out as the emerging talent of the team led by Ran Ben Shimon, who became coach at the end of May.
Khalaili, most expensive transfer in history for an Israeli
Called up for the first time this year, the Union Saint-Gilloise player is one of the elements that Didier Deschamps is wary of, like Oscar Gloukh. “For many people, Israel is a small team. I can assure you, having watched the two matches against Belgium and Italy closely, that there was some interesting content. They have a lot of young people, there is quality,” confided the French coach who will therefore have noticed this new talented generation, named vice-champion of Europe under 19 (U19) in 2022, semi-finalist of the Euro Espoirs (U21) 2023 and 3rd in the U20 World Cup 2023. Born in 2004, Anan Khalaili made his mark a few months ago by becoming the most expensive transfer in history for an Israeli, transferred from Maccabi Haifa to Union Saint-Gilloise for 7.2 million euros.
Technically gifted, fond of dribbling and capable of striking accelerations
A fast and agile attacker, Anan Khalaili perhaps developed his qualities during an active childhood. From the age of 9, the Haifa native trained at dawn, walking to school, before doing homework and attending evening training until 11 p.m. He took his first steps at Beitar Haifa at the age of 8 then joined the famous Maccabi where he was able to grow and sharpen his skills in the youth sector. He played in the Youth League, started in the Israeli championship and caught the eye of Union Saint-Gilloise during a Europe Conference League match against Ghent last season. Technically gifted, fond of dribbling and capable of striking accelerations, Khalaili (8 goals in 31 league games last season at Maccabi Haifa) is a right winger at the base. But, after 4 first selections in this position, he was aligned up front against the Nazionale and the Red Devils in September with the national team. Thursday evening, the Israeli player who has not yet scored with his new Belgian team and with Israel should still start in this place against the Blues. Against Belgium, Anan Khalaili was behind his selection’s goal in the 36th minute, pushing Timothy Castagne to score against his side after a header.
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