Dor Turgeman had already heard enough by the time he found the net. New England Revolution's Israeli forward put his side 2-0 up away to CF Montréal on Saturday night, and instead of running to his own bench he sprinted toward the section of Stade Saputo where home supporters had spent the evening hurling abuse at him.
Fans in that section had directed antisemitic chants at Turgeman through the first half, including calls of "Death to Israel," according to Israeli outlets Sport1 and Walla who covered the match. Turgeman, born in Ashdod and capped 18 times for Israel's national team, scored in the 36th minute to double his side's lead and turned it into a moment of open defiance.
He cupped a hand to his ear and spread his arms toward the crowd that had been jeering him, a gesture that immediately drew a furious response from the stands and from Montreal's own goalkeeper, Sebastian Breza, who came running from the edge of the box to confront him.
Breza shoved Turgeman to the ground as players from both sides piled in to separate them; the referee produced a yellow card for the goalkeeper once order was restored. Bottles were then thrown from the crowd in Turgeman's direction as he made his way back for the restart.
Explaining his reaction afterward, Breza offered an answer that sidestepped the abuse Turgeman had faced all night: "I wanted the fans to get more into the game. I wanted to push the crowd, so the crowd would push us," he was quoted as saying by Sport1.
The match itself swung dramatically after the break. New England had led 2-0 at the interval through Turgeman and a Carles Gil goal, only for Montréal to claw back through Brayan Vera and a Prince Owusu equaliser in the 59th minute, leaving the game level at 2-2 — a result that stretched Montréal's winless run in MLS to six matches, per ESPN and TSN.
For Turgeman, the goal continued a red-hot run since his move to MLS. The 22-year-old joined New England Revolution from Maccabi Tel Aviv last August for a reported $6 million fee and scored in each of his first three league appearances, a Revolution club record. Saturday's strike extended his recent scoring form to back-to-back matches.
The confrontation is the latest instance of an Israeli athlete facing hostility from opposing fans in North America and Europe since the war in Gaza began, with chants and gestures aimed squarely at nationality rather than football. Turgeman's response — refusing to back down and celebrating directly in front of his abusers — has already drawn wide attention on Israeli sports media.
MLS and CF Montréal had not issued a formal statement on the chanting or the confrontation at the time of writing.
