Brighton & Hove Albion midfielders Beram Kayal and Davy Propper experienced mixed fortunes for their countries as UEFA Euro 2020 qualification got underway this (Thursday) evening.
Kayal started in Israel’s 1-1 home draw with Slovenia in Group G, but came off injured on 63 minutes.
Seagulls midfielder Davy Propper.
Andraz Sporar opened the scoring for the Slovenians on 48 minutes before Eran Zahavi equalised seven minutes later.
The Seagulls midfielder had an attempt from outside of the box which just missed the top-right corner on 27 minutes before he was taken off.
Former Brighton forward Tomer Hemed was named in Israel’s squad to play Slovenia but was an unused substitute.
The Israelis will also do battle with Poland, Austria, North Macedonia and Latvia as they look to qualify for their first-ever European Championships.
Propper came on as a second-half sub in the Netherlands’ 4-0 home victory over Belarus in Group C.
Goals from ex-Manchester United winger Memphis Depay (two) and Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum and Virgil van Dijk secured a comfortable win for the Dutch in their opening qualifying game.
SEE ALSO Who do Sussex’s sides have to face in their battles for promotion and relegation? | Brighton winger admits he thought it was ‘game over’ moments before late equaliser at Millwall | Your chance to get FREE travel to Brighton and Hove Albion’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley | Who has played the most for Brighton at the Amex? The full list from one appearance up | It’s absolutely ridiculous that VAR can only be used in certain FA Cup games – Scott McCarthy
The Albion midfielder came on at half-time, replacing former Middlesbrough man Marten de Roon.
Ronald Koeman’s side have also been drawn with 2014 World Cup-winners Germany, Northern Ireland and Estonia.
The Netherlands are assured of at least a play-off place after winning their group in the newly-created UEFA Nations League.
The midfield duo may feature on Sunday when Israel welcome Austria (5pm kick-off) and the Netherlands host old foes Germany (7:45pm kick-off).
The top two from each of the ten qualifying groups will advance to the final tournament, determining the first 20 places.
The last four places will be decided by play-offs which will be contested by the 16 Nations League group winners.
If a Nations League group winner has already qualified via the European qualifiers, then the spot will go to the next best-ranked team in its Nations League group.
Be the first to comment