JERUSALEM, March 24 -- Chinese club Guangzhou R&F striker Eran Zahavi scored a hat-trick on Sunday as Israel national soccer team beat Austria 4-2 at the northern city of Haifa, in Group G of the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
Zahavi scored at the 34th, 45th and 55th minutes, after an early 8th minute goal by Marko Arnautovic for Austria.
Israeli striker Munas Dabbur, who plays for the Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg, scored the fourth goal (66') after a pass by Zahavi. Arnautovic scored again at the 75th minute.
Israel is coached by former Austria's star Andreas Herzog, who tops Austria's all-time cap list, playing 103 matches for the national team in 1988-2003 - in which he scored 26 goals.
In October 2001, in a decisive match in Israel, for the World Cup qualifying playoffs, Herzog scored an equalizer in the final seconds (111) - which brought Austria to the next stage and knocked Israel out of the tournament.
During his career Herzog played for German Bundesliga clubs including Bayer Munich and Werder Bremen, Austria's Rapid Wien and U.S. club Los Angeles Galaxy.
He started his coaching career in 2005, serving since then as assistant coach of Austria and U.S. national teams, as well as the coach of under-23 U.S. national team.
In 2018 he was appointed for the first time as a senior team main coach, as the Israeli association nominated him for the national team job.
Last Thursday, Eran Zahavi secured Israel a point in the opening match in Group G against Slovenia in Haifa (1-1).
Zahavi scored then at the 55th minute, 7 minutes after Slovenia's opening goal.