Sporting Kansas City midfielder Gadi Kinda earned his fifth career international cap on Tuesday, playing 27 minutes as a second-half substitute in Israel's 2-1 victory over Moldova in FIFA World Cup qualifying at The Turner Stadium in Be'er Sheva.
Kinda entered the match in the 63rd minute and came close to scoring in the 90th minute. The 27-year-old playmaker collected an errant clearance from Moldova goalkeeper Cristian Avram and let loose a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area that forced a strong save from Avram diving low to his left.
Seeking their first World Cup appearance since 1970, Israel kept those faint hopes alive with the win and now turn their attention to the final two fixtures of the qualifying campaign next month. Currently third in Group F, Israel sits four points back of second-place Scotland - who can advance to the UEFA playoffs, and eliminate Israel from World Cup contention, with a win at Moldova on Nov. 12. Group F winners Denmark officially sealed their place in Qatar on Tuesday.
Hungary find themselves in an even more perilous position, despite securing a 1-1 road draw versus Group I leaders England on Tuesday at Wembley Stadium in which Sporting KC forward Daniel Salloi was an unused substitute.
Fourth in their group, Hungary's only hope of advancing to the UEFA playoffs will be to erase a six-point gap and a goal difference tiebreaker that currently favors Poland by 16 goals. To do so, Hungary will be tasked with handily winning their final two FIFA World Cup qualifiers in a month's time while hoping that Poland loses to Andorra in addition to Albania going winless against England and Andorra.
Kinda and Salloi will now return to Kansas City ahead of Sporting's match against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Sunday as SKC aims to secure a berth in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs with a draw or win. The match will kick off at 9 p.m. CT with live coverage on Bally Sports KC, Bally Sports Midwest, ESPN 94.5 FM (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish).
