Sunday will see Team Spain travel to Jerusalem to take on Israel at the Kraft Family Sports Campus in a Group B battle as the International Federation of American Football European Championship tournament continues.
The two teams’ last matchup came in 2015, where Israel took a 28-20 win away from home. Israel’s last game saw a 44-19 loss to Hungary in which wide receiver Ronnie Hayes was really their only bright spot, scoring two receiving touchdowns. Hayes was the league MVP in Israel in 2020, playing quarterback and wideout and will return to the national team for this fixture. Israel will field a new starting quarterback in Tsvi Greenstone, who will replace Aviram Farkas.
Spain will start Sergio Barbero, who led the Osos Rivas to the Spanish title game, at quarterback, joined by his teammate and veteran wide receiver David Giron. Spain’s backfield will be headlined by Cristian Santos who is the second leading rusher for the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns in the German Football League.
Coach Guijarro spoke on his team ahead of the IFAF matchup:
“We are working with a very broad and solid base, which goes beyond those who were finally selected. We started with an outstanding core of 90 players, and so we enter this game with a high level of enthusiasm.”
The winner of this game will advance to face Germany in a game for promotion to Group A.
Watch live.
Team Spain @ Team Israel
August 6, 18:30 CET (6:30 pm, 12:30 pm EDT)
