a écrit le 25 mai 2006 à 12h07 Barcelona star Samuel Eto'o showed a touch of brilliance as he dribbled past half of the joint Betar Jerusalem/Bnei Sakhnin team to score the second goal in a charity match for peace at Zissman Hall in Ramat Gan on Wednesday night.
The Cameroon international played for a few minutes in the first half on the team made up of stars from the TV show Eretz Nehederet, which faced players from Betar and Sakhnin.
Eto'o, who arrived in Israel on Tuesday, spent the day promoting his message of anti-racism and anti-violence in the trip organized by the Peres Center for Peace.
But on Wednesday evening, the time finally came for him to show off the skills that have helped him become recognized as one of the best soccer players in the world.
Although the score was relatively insignificant, Eto'o played most of the second half on the Betar-Sakhnin team to help it easily win the match 5-2, with a hatrick from Betar forward Lior Asulin assuring the victory.
In an example of the unity before the 1,000 strong crowd, Asulin exchanged passes with Sakhnin's Abed Rabbo before firing home his first goal a minute into the match.
"It is something wonderful to see that a person and player like him came to Israel to promote peace," Betar's Gal Alberman told The Jerusalem Post after the match. "We don't need to see it here. We all know how great he is when we see him on TV every week. I think Samuel Eto'o is the best striker in the world at the moment."
There has been a history of violent clashes between the fans of Betar and Sakhnin and the message from the players was clear.
"We want to show the supporters that the problem is not with the players," Alberman said. "It is important to get unity among the Jews and Arabs. I felt no difference playing with the Sakhnin players tonight compared with playing for my own team."
The event attracted a number of politicians, including Peres Center president and Vice Premier Shimon Peres and MK Tzahi Hanegbi, who played in goal for the Eretz Nehederet team.
Peres addressed the crowd before the game. "When I see Betar and Sakhnin together this is an Eretz Nehederet [wonderful land]," he said. "We hope there will be peace and end to violence."
After Eto'o accepted a trophy from Sports Minister Ophir Pines, he told the crowd. "I never thought I would be here in Israel with such important people. I have scored many goals in my life but this, to promote peace here, is one of the most be
The Cameroon international played for a few minutes in the first half on the team made up of stars from the TV show Eretz Nehederet, which faced players from Betar and Sakhnin.
Eto'o, who arrived in Israel on Tuesday, spent the day promoting his message of anti-racism and anti-violence in the trip organized by the Peres Center for Peace.
But on Wednesday evening, the time finally came for him to show off the skills that have helped him become recognized as one of the best soccer players in the world.
Although the score was relatively insignificant, Eto'o played most of the second half on the Betar-Sakhnin team to help it easily win the match 5-2, with a hatrick from Betar forward Lior Asulin assuring the victory.
In an example of the unity before the 1,000 strong crowd, Asulin exchanged passes with Sakhnin's Abed Rabbo before firing home his first goal a minute into the match.
"It is something wonderful to see that a person and player like him came to Israel to promote peace," Betar's Gal Alberman told The Jerusalem Post after the match. "We don't need to see it here. We all know how great he is when we see him on TV every week. I think Samuel Eto'o is the best striker in the world at the moment."
There has been a history of violent clashes between the fans of Betar and Sakhnin and the message from the players was clear.
"We want to show the supporters that the problem is not with the players," Alberman said. "It is important to get unity among the Jews and Arabs. I felt no difference playing with the Sakhnin players tonight compared with playing for my own team."
The event attracted a number of politicians, including Peres Center president and Vice Premier Shimon Peres and MK Tzahi Hanegbi, who played in goal for the Eretz Nehederet team.
Peres addressed the crowd before the game. "When I see Betar and Sakhnin together this is an Eretz Nehederet [wonderful land]," he said. "We hope there will be peace and end to violence."
After Eto'o accepted a trophy from Sports Minister Ophir Pines, he told the crowd. "I never thought I would be here in Israel with such important people. I have scored many goals in my life but this, to promote peace here, is one of the most be
