Israeli soccer team Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Italy?s AC Milan 1:0 on Thursday in the first of the quarter-final games between the two teams in the UEFA Cup. The one point of the game was scored by Sergei Kleshchenko in the game?s thirty-first minute, when he kicked the ball in mid-air, sending it sailing into the Milan goal. The rest of the game was a tiring test of wills, which the Israeli team successfully passed. The Tel Aviv men did not lose their cool when faced with the respected Italian team, even as they were forced to play a ?home game? away from home. Slowly but surely, the ?Reds?, as the Hapoel team is known, are making their way up the ladder towards the UEFA Cup Finals.
The game was hosted by Nicosia, Cyprus, after the UEFA management decided that they would not allow any sporting activities in Israel due to the uncertain security situation here. The Israeli team was allowed to suggest an alternate venue. Nonetheless, almost 2,000 Israeli fans descended on the island state for the game, which counts as a Tel Aviv ?home game? in the context of the UEFA Cup. In light of security concerns, the Cypriot authorities instituted particularly heavy precautions in and around the Nicosia stadium.
The game was hosted by Nicosia, Cyprus, after the UEFA management decided that they would not allow any sporting activities in Israel due to the uncertain security situation here. The Israeli team was allowed to suggest an alternate venue. Nonetheless, almost 2,000 Israeli fans descended on the island state for the game, which counts as a Tel Aviv ?home game? in the context of the UEFA Cup. In light of security concerns, the Cypriot authorities instituted particularly heavy precautions in and around the Nicosia stadium.