UDINE, Italy: The World Cup qualifier between Italy and Israel took place amid a heavy police presence that included snipers on the stadium roof.
Italy won 3-0 Tuesday in a game that soccer and security authorities had placed in the highest risk category despite a breakthrough ceasefire deal that has paused two years of war in Gaza.
There were skirmishes between protesters and police nearby on the streets of Udine at a pro-Palestinian demonstration before the match, but no serious disruptions at the venue during the game. Although, stadium staff had to act quickly to prevent some fans from running onto the field carrying Palestinian flags.
“Today wasn’t easy for us,” Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso said. “I want to thank the police who have done an incredible job in these days.”
The Israel team bus was escorted to the stadium by 13 police vehicles, including some from the special forces, and several motorbikes.
The sound of helicopters over the city had filled the air from early morning, with drones spotted in the sky and snipers also seen on the roof of the Israel team’s hotel.
In the city center, around 10,000 people attended a pro-Palestinian march which was incident free for nearly three hours before arriving at its final stop. Then about 50 people — with their faces covered — started clashing with police, who used water cannons and tear gas to try and disperse them.
The group was apparently trying to get past the police cordons to head toward the stadium, which is on the outskirts of the city. They threw metal barriers and other objects at riot police, fired flares and set fire to garbage cans.
Public broadcaster RAI said one of its journalists was taken to a hospital after being hit in the face by a rock.
Many shops and restaurants decided not to open for business Tuesday and there were strict rules for those that did — including the removal of any outdoor furniture or other objects that could potentially be used as weapons.
Italy also played Israel a year ago in Udine, which was chosen because of its location in north-east Italy, near the Slovenian border, and the ease of isolating the stadium, where road blocks were set up all around.
The area was declared a “red zone,” and supporters were strongly advised to arrive early because of rigorous security checks, with everyone attending having to pass through metal detectors.
Fewer than 10,000 tickets were sold for the qualifier at the 25,000-seat Stadio Friuli, and there appeared to be fewer people inside the stadium than at the demonstration.
The staging of the game was thrown into doubt last month when UEFA considered suspending Israel over the war and Udine Mayor Alberto Felice De Toni called for the game to be postponed.
“Honestly it wasn’t easy … for many days we were always there thinking that maybe there was the possibility of not playing the match,” Gattuso said. “We came, we prepared for it with an environment that we knew was not a festive environment and we felt that.”
There were boos from some fans when the Israeli anthem was played but many other people in the stadium tried to drown that out with loud applause.
Mateo Retegui converted a penalty on the stroke of halftime and doubled his tally with a curled strike into the top right corner in the 74th minute. Gianluca Mancini headed in a third goal for Italy in stoppage time.
Italy secured at least a playoff spot as it attempts to avoid missing a third straight World Cup.
The Azzurri are second in their group, three points behind Norway and six ahead of Israel, which has played one game more than Italy.
Only the group winner advances directly to next year’s tournament being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. The second-place finisher progresses to a playoff — the stage where four-time champion Italy was eliminated during qualifying for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.