Israel's under-20 national soccer team made history Saturday night after coming back from behind twice to beat a formidable Brazil side 3-2 and advance to the FIFA U20 World Cup semi-finals.
Other stories:
Brazil's Marcos Leonardo opened the scoring on the night with a stunning 56th-minute strike inside the left post from the edge of the area.
However, the young Blue and Whites did not take long to come up with a response as Anan Khalaiali soared in the air to score a fine header just four minutes later.
Ofir Haim's men kept the pressure on the Brazilians high but did not manage to subdue the Brazilian rearguard until the full-time whistle.
About twenty seconds into extra time, Israel found itself behind once more after Brazil's Andrey Santos sent a brilliant back-heel pass to Matheus Nascimento who drove the ball past Tomer Tzarfati and into the Israeli net.
But this neverending Israel side showed it wasn't done just yet as Hamza Shibli snuck masterfully into the opponent's box to slot home a fine cross and equalize the scoreboard once more, leaving the Brazilians stunned.
Just as the curtains were closing on the first half of extra time, Dor Turgeman channeled his inner Diego Maradona to put Israel in the lead for the first time in the game with a superb individual effort that ended with the ball in the Brazilian net. 3-2 Israel!
The second half of extra time saw Israel awarded a penalty kick after a Brazilian player handled the ball inside the box. However, Kaique Pereira dove right and managed to block a poorly executed penalty by Israeli captain Ilay Madmon.
Unfortunately for Pereira, the Brazilian shot-stopper got too excited and fouled an Israeli player who was darting toward the rebound and the referee awarded Israel with a second successive spot kick.
Ahmed Salman took his position in front of the Brazilian goal but he too was unable to convert the kick, sending the ball just wide of Pereira's left post, squandering Israel's second penalty in as many minutes.
Both teams, exhausted but determined, continued charging at each other's goal until the referee blew the final whistle.
Shortly after the game, President Isaac Herzog was quick to congratulate the Israeli players: "An amazing performance by our national youth soccer team - what a tremendous victory!" he wrote.
"You bring us much honor and joy these days with a fantastic team game and a true sporting spirit!"
The young Blue and Whites will play next on Thursday against either the United States or Uruguay who will come face-to-face on Sunday for a ticket to the semi-finals.