VIDEO SHOWS: ISRAEL TEAM TRAINING SESSION / PRESS CONFERENCE WITH ISRAEL COACH RAN BEN SHIMON AND CAPTAIN ELAZAR "ELI" DASA RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: OSLO, NORWAY (OCTOBER 10, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all) 1. ISRAEL SQUAD KICKING BALLS AROUND AS THEY WARM UP FOR TEAM TRAINING SESSION 2. PLAYERS KICKING BALLS 3. MIDFIELDER, OSCAR GLOUKH, WARMING UP WITH TEAMMATES 4. GOALKEEPER, OMRI GLAZER, WARMING UP WITH TEAMMATES 5. GLAZER 6. SQUAD KICKING BALLS AROUND / STADIUM 7. GLAZER AND TEAMMATES KICKING BALLS AROUND 8. PLAYERS KICKING BALLS AROUND 9. VARIOUS OF SQUAD HUDDLING UP ON PITCH 10. ISRAEL COACH, RAN BEN SHIMON, IN MIDDLE OF HUDDLE AS SQUAD CLAPS 11. HUDDLE / STADIUM STANDS 12. ISRAEL DEFENDER AND CAPTAIN, ELAZAR “ELI” DASA, DURING HUDDLE, DASA WALKING OFF 13. VARIOUS OF SQUAD JOGGING AROUND PITCH 14. SQUAD ON PITCH / STADIUM STANDS 15. ISRAEL DEFENDER AND CAPTAIN, ELAZAR “ELI” DASA AND COACH, RAN BEN SHIMON, ENTERING PRESS CONFERENCE 16. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAEL COACH, RAN BEN SHIMON, SAYING: “Because of what we are passing through as a people, as a country, as a nation; this is the biggest thing that is really exciting our players. What is happening now. So, my job is to balance it because exactly like you said, I don't feel comfortable to speak after them. It's not nice. But exactly like Eli said, the captain of the Israeli national team, we are dealing with sport. This is our territory. This is our pitch. This is our place to be. I don't want anyone to drag us into the political things. We try to stay as focused as we can on the sportive side. But we know what is standing in front of us and behind us. We know we play for our people. We play to make a little bit of joy. A little bit of good moments. The most important thing is to heal as a country, as a bleeding nation, is to heal our people. Whatever we can do, it’s our biggest privilege as sportsmen.” 17. BEN SHIMON AT PRESS CONFERENCE 18. BEN SHIMON IN CAMERA VIEWFINDER 19. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAEL COACH, RAN BEN SHIMON, SAYING: “I hope now, after our 48 hostages, men and women and our heroes, soldiers, who come back to our country and there will be peace time, that we will come back to play in Israel. And in the next UEFA draw, that the countries will come to play in Israel – maybe even Norway, to host you. To host the Norwegian side. We are looking forward to coming to play for our people. This is my biggest wish. And if you ask for something close to a dream that I have, this is one of them.” 20. PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM 21. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAEL DEFENDER AND CAPTAIN, ELI DASA, SAYING: JOURNALIST, ASKING: “And the peace agreement, does that affect the game at all? And the players' mindset before the game?” DASA, SAYING: “Well, it gives us a kind of a relief, of course. To see our hostages coming back home is the thing that we were waiting for two years and the thing that we were fighting for. So, of course, it's a huge excitement for the whole country, I have to say. And so many people around the world that care about those hostages. I don't know, do you (question directed to journalist who asked the question) care about them? Yeah? Okay. I'm happy to hear. Yeah, so it helps us a lot. I think since October 7th, we haven’t attended even one game with the good feeling of hope that something will happen. And now that they are on their way back home, we are really happy, and we would like to give them a nice present when they come back.” 22. DASA SPEAKING AT PRESS CONFERENCE 23. PHOTOGRAPHER 24. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAEL DEFENDER AND CAPTAIN, ELI DASA, ON ISRAEL NOT BEING SUSPENDED BY UEFA, SAYING: “Of course, nowadays you cannot ignore things that are going above your head. But if I speak only about myself. So, I had no doubt about it, that it will not happen. Football should not involve politics. Never. Never. It doesn't matter if it's Israel or another country. Of course, football needs to use the power it has to unite people. Yeah? And once a country is banned from football, I think it's a big mistake. I'm happy that UEFA took the right decision for UEFA and FIFA. I expected this decision, I'd say, and this is the past, and we move on from that.” 25. DASA SPEAKING AT PRESS CONFERENCE 26. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAEL DEFENDER AND CAPTAIN, ELI DASA, SAYING: “As I said, in football, you have to be really careful when you are speaking politics. And now I'm feeling like I'm here as a politician from the Israeli government or something. Tomorrow, we play a game against Norway. Maybe we should speak a little bit about football. I’d be glad about it, if you can.” JOURNALIST, ASKING: “It’s a really good point you make here. You are, in a sense, a representative of Israel in the current situation. It’s clearly frustrating to you. But do you accept why people ask these questions, maybe?” DASA, SAYING: “I can understand why. You are from the media. And in the media, you always look for the yellow, juicy stuff to speak about. Of course, it's normal, but I'm also a football player, my friend. So, we have to speak about football. And I will never be frustrated to speak about my country. Let's make that clear. I’m happy to represent my country. It’s a big, big, big blessing and a big opportunity for me to sometimes get the opportunity to sit here and defend my people. But we should also put some limits.” 27. PRESS CONFERENCE ONGOING STORY: Israel coach Ran Ben Shimon and captain Elazar "Eli" Dasa said their side were drawing strength from news Israel and Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire deal, even as they tried to keep the focus on soccer and not politics. “What we are passing through as a people, as a country, as a nation; this is the biggest thing that is really exciting our players. What is happening now… But exactly like Eli said, we are dealing with sport. This is our territory. This is our pitch. This is our place to be. I don't want anyone to drag us into the political things. We try to stay as focused as we can on the sportive side,” Ben Shimon said at a press conference on Friday (October 10) ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Norway slated for Saturday (October 11). “The most important thing is to heal as a country, as a bleeding nation, is to heal our people,” he added. The agreement, ratified by Israel's government on Friday, includes a ceasefire and plan to free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Ben Shimon said he hoped a lasting peace would also mean Israel would once again be able to play home games in their own country. They have been playing home games in Hungary due to the war. “I hope now, after our 48 hostages, men and women and our heroes, soldiers, who come back to our country and there will be peace time, that we will come back to play in Israel,” he said. Asked if the peace agreement would affect the players’ mindset going into the match, Dasa, the team captain, said it would help them on the pitch. “Well, it gives us a kind of a relief, of course. To see our hostages coming back home is the thing that we were waiting for for two years and the thing that we were fighting for. So, of course, it's a huge excitement for the whole country. “So yeah, it helps us a lot. I think since October 7th, we haven’t attended even one game with the good feeling of hope that something will happen. And now that they are on their way back home, we are really happy, and we would like to give them a nice present when they come back,” Dasa said. Israeli troops began pulling back on Friday under the agreement, which is the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. Israel plays Norway in Oslo on Saturday. Norway tops Group I on 15 points from five games, Italy is second on n…
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