It is a training session, classic from a sporting point of view, organized two days before an international match, in this case the League of Nations between France and Israel. But it is also a session held in the middle of an impressive security system, in a field with a location kept secret for security reasons. The players of the Israeli selection, who arrived on French soil on Monday, repeated their adjustments behind closed doors on Tuesday morning on a field in Val-d'Oise surrounded by the police and monitored from the sky by a helicopter from the national gendarmerie.
Entries were filtered, and the press point set up by the Israeli federation was canceled at the request of the French authorities. In the absence of interviews with the French media, the delegation of the Hebrew State transmitted to the media statements, in video, of a player and the coach.
“We are very excited about the idea of going to play at the Stade de France,” explains defensive midfielder Ethane Azoulay, born in Paris, in French. The sensations are very good, the safety does its job to the maximum, we have our heads on the ground. We focus on the match. We only think about football, not too much about what's around. »
“I see a lot of security here in Paris. People want to see sports and both sides want it to go well. We feel safe here, France is an incredible country, says its coach, Ran Ben Shimon. We are really surrounded by security, it allows us to concentrate on the sport and nothing else. Which is a privilege right now. »
The Israeli coach, who will lead a new session on Wednesday at the Stade de France on the eve of the match, and his men are staying in a hotel at the secret location. Their government advised Israeli nationals not to travel to Saint-Denis after the attacks against Maccabi Tel-Aviv supporters Thursday evening in Amsterdam. But around a hundred people will still take their place in the parking lot dedicated to visitors to the Stade de France.
“It’s a shame that our audience is not at the stadium,” says Ethane Azoulay. We think of them, we will do everything for them. » “People will be at home, and will see a good national team which will give them reasons to be proud,” promises his coach.
