The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

With His Own Feet: Solomon Manor Conquering | Israel today

2019-12-07T13:30:26.663Z


The new star of Israeli football talks about the goals in the Champions League, the hope of the Israeli team - and the life itself


A coveted contract in Shakhtar Donetsk Ukraine's champion, excellent performances in the Israeli national team, comparisons to Eran Zahavi - and two amazing goals in the Champions League • At 20, Manor Solomon is the great hope of Israeli football - but promises: "No matter where I come, I will not lift my nose and work hard"

  • "Suddenly I'm playing alongside the players I admired until a minute ago." Solomon is celebrating a birthday in his Kiev apartment

Last Tuesday night, Manor Solomon found himself with only himself. That was a few hours after he scored a big parole in his team uniform, Khartar Donetsk, and saved her from a loss to Manchester City in the Champions League.

"I couldn't fall asleep with excitement," he says. "There were moments that night I wondered if it was real, if it really happened. Just two days before the game, I went back to training after a back hip injury. There was a real debate about whether I would be flying for a game in Manchester at the last minute. I didn't even know if I'll play and a few minutes. "

He takes a long breath, and the smile doesn't come off his face. "I came in as a substitute in the 65th minute, with City leading 1: 0. After four minutes we were in attack. Before the ball came to me, I had a split second to think. I told myself, it's golf, it's going to be golf. When the ball came, I swung my foot - and kicked And it comes in!

More about Solomon Manor:

• In the 95th minute: Solomon Manor gave Shachtar a 1: 2 victory in San Siro

• A leader is born

• "Can't explain the feeling"

"At first, I ran madly, like after every golf. And only then did I digest. It's my gate at City's home stadium, England's champion and one of the best teams in the world, in front of 55,000 spectators and millions more to see at home. When I saw my name on the huge screen on the field, it was one The most exciting moments in my life. I spotted Dad and Mom and my brother sitting in the stands, signaling a big kiss to them. "

Shakhtar coach Luis Castro said after the game that Solomon was not scheduled to be on the roster because of the injury, but the medical team ruled he could play 25-20 minutes. Solomon himself said after the game: "It's the best way to get back from injury. I'm trying to be the team's joker."

This is not Solomon's first goal in the Champions League. Two months ago, he stunned the world of football as he won a 2: 1 victory against the Italian atlanta in the football sanctuary, San Siro Stadium in Milan. Solomon came in as a substitute in the 69th minute, and in the 95th, deep within the extra time, coolly turned around the Italian team's defenders and pinched the ball into the net. He became the youngest Israeli in the Champions League (a son who conquered Hapoel Tel Aviv vs. Lyon in 2010, when he was 21).

"The gate in San Siro was a dream, you can't explain the feeling in words. As a kid you dream of being a player and succeed and grow, but you can't even imagine that happiness, hear on the pitch in San Siro the Champions League anthem, and then score a goal. Immediately after the gate And the hugs from the players I looked at my parents, who were sitting behind the gate, and made a sign of kissing them. "

For all the articles, columns and sections of Sitting

The newspapers in Europe went out of their way after Solomon's performances. Ukrainian newspapers celebrated his goal in front of City, praising the "winning exchange of the coach" and wrote: "The Joker did it again. This Israeli is just amazing." The Newspapers also did not spare praise from the young star. The Guardian wrote that "his 10-yard kick was fatal," and the Telegraph wrote: "He had an immediate impact on the game." The SKY Network gave him the score 7.

Despite the cautious goals, which gave his team important points and left them a chance to qualify for the Champions League eighth, Solomon promises that success will not dazzle him. "It doesn't matter where I get to football, I will keep it Manor. The same kid from Kfar Saba, with the same friends and family, and I will not lift my nose but continue to work hard. I expect myself to reach the top leagues in Europe, Spain or England. "Although chances are slim. I also hope to lead the Israeli team in two to three years."

• • •

He's only 20. A gifted wonder boy, who rose to the league of the biggest in a really meteoric way. Ten months ago, shortly after graduating from high school, Maccabi Petach Tikva purchased an astronomical sum of 6 million euros from the Ukrainian group Shakhtar Donetsk. Only Eran Zahavi was bought for a higher amount - more than 7 million euros paid by his Chinese group. According to publications, Solomon has signed a five-year contract, at a salary of 300,000 euros per season. One can surmise that this amount will not remain for long.

Occupy the gate in front of Manchester City in the uniform of Khartar Donetsk (orange), a week and a half ago. "Before the ball came to me, I had a split second to think. I told myself, this is Gul" // Photo: GettyImages

The one who set the price tag for the sparkling diamond is Avi Luzon, owner of Maccabi Petah Tikva. "I really wanted to play in Europe, but I thought my father was asking me a lot of money. I asked him if he didn't think it was excessive and I told him that if he had asked for 3 million, I might have moved to Europe sooner. He told me, 2 million euros. ”It angered me, because I wanted to move forward, but he wanted the best for me and Maccabi Petah Tikva.

"In January of this year, my father called me and said, 'I got an offer from Shakhtar, 6 million euros.' He showed me the email they sent him and said it was serious. It's the best Israeli legionary team after Seville in Spain (who bought 27-year-old Moans Dabour, But gives him very few minutes of play; RA), which is a huge leap for me. "

Just before the embarrassing pairing of the Israeli national team against Poland at home (1: 2) and northern Macedonia outside (0: 1) three weeks ago, Solomon was injured in the back hip and missed both games. Despite the losses, Israel reached the semi-finals of the League of Nations, where they will compete against Scotland in late March.

"The injury was very disappointing," he said. "I wanted to help my friends so much. I don't agree that those losses are embarrassing. Poland probably won't, nor to northern Macedonia. Look at the list of Northern Macedonia players and see that they don't fall from us."

Is there anything to go to Scotland for?

"Obviously. I think we have a good chance, you can win. We're not going there to say, 'Here, we tried.' We have proven in a few games that we are a strong team, and I believe we will reach this game very well. I have to get healthy and at the height of the gym, I'll probably be anxious about that.

"It's true that we have to improve the defensive game. We can't score a goal and then absorb immediately. We have to practice it in training and put ourselves in the head that we are a strong team, and that we don't have to go back. Maybe it's really a mental issue too, because the same thing happened to us. In some games, you have to change that. "

Do you think Andy Herzog will continue?

"All the players want him to continue. There have been quite a few games where we have shown a high ability, and we saw that we are a strong team, and that is his thanks. I really like him and connected to him, we have a connection all the time. Before the game against City he talked to me and asked me how The game he called Knee and said he expects to see me healthy and fit in March. "

• • •

Solomon is the great hope, and almost the only one, of Israeli football. In the local swamp, they ask again and again if Yossi Benyun has finally risen. Benyon, by the way, was the one who helped Solomon in the team two years ago.

“I was in my room at home playing with friends at FIFA. My phone rang, and the line was then-team manager Israel Stochinsky. He asked me some questions about my application to be an outstanding athlete in the military. Suddenly my father came in and told me that I was invited to the Israeli national team. I didn't believe him, I thought he was working on me. But he showed me the news that came online.

"Just a minute later, the team manager called again and informed me that I was on the team. I was in the clouds.

"In my first training, I trained with Yossi Benyun and Eran Zahavi. Suddenly I'm in the same place with the players I admired until a moment ago, I play alongside them. It was kind of a miracle for me. Yossi really helped me. He talked to me already in the first training and told me that I would refer to everything I needed to. It made me feel like home. "

In September 2018, when he was only 19, Solomon made his debut in the Israeli national team. He entered as a substitute in the loss game to Albania (0: 1) as part of the League of Nations. Since then, he has become a regular player on the roster. He started in the national team against Poland in Warsaw (0: 4), played against Northern Macedonia at home (1: 1) - where he cooked up a goal for Eran Zahavi ("my best game in the national team"), and also against Austria outside, and in both games against Slovenia.

With his parents, Yossi and Ayla, and brothers Mirit and Moran. "They are my mascot when they watch me on the field"

In his age group, he is the only one who plays regularly in the Israeli national team. "There are a lot of good players my age, such as Jordan Shu'a (Maccabi Haifa), Elon Almog (Maccabi Tel Aviv) and Raz Shlomo (Hapoel Tel Aviv). I think it would do well for the team if they get out to teams abroad as quickly as possible."

Are you the best Israeli player today, after Eran Zahavi?

"No. Some have proven themselves better than I do. Some say I'm among the best 3 to 3 Israelis. Obviously I want to be the best, I have the potential for that, but I haven't realized it yet. I also want to get far in Europe.

"From game to game I feel better. Obviously, I'm not at my peak yet. I have a good dribble, I have a positive audacity on the field, and I need to improve my reach into scoring situations and kick more into the gate. I believe that if I improve, my ability will be a lot higher.

"I know I have a lot of expectations in the team, and that puts a lot on my shoulders. But it spurs me on to be better and justify all the superlatives that have been said about me."

Is it gold for you?

"Yes. He talks to me and gives me tips on proper movement on the field, kicks, dedication. After the gates in front of Atlanta and City, he sent me a message: 'Dude, I'm proud of you, keep it up.' Obviously he's our big star on the team, I'm just Can learn from it. "

With Eran Zehabi. "It pisses me off" // Photo by Danny Maron

• • •

Manor is the eldest son of Yossi (50) and Ila (47), a pair of physical education teachers and teachers from Kfar Saba. He has two younger brothers - Mirit, 17, and Moran, 16.

Manor: "I needed a ball. All the time. My parents told me that at the age of two, when we went to New York, they bought me a balloon, and I didn't stop bouncing it. At age 5, I went to a soccer club in Kfar Saba. In the pedestrian zone, 300-200 times. It has become a big attraction. "

When he was 8 years old, Solomon joined Hapoel Kfar Saba's children's group, and a year later played with the team against Maccabi Petah Tikva, where Omri Luzon, son of Amos Luzon (who was one of the older group's players at that time), played. Lots of expats.

"Amos saw me and was very excited. He inquired about me a bit, talked to Dad and told him to bring me to them. It's fascinating to me, because Petach Tikva is known for its well-invested children and boys. Every time before training they would send me a taxi from Kfar Saba to Petah Tikva." .

He progressed quickly at the game level and marveled with dizzying, fast and agile. Although not tall, he has rare technical talent. The large youth groups, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa, realized that in Malabas a sparkling diamond grew and began to court him. But he rejected the proposals.

"I felt a star in Petah Tikva, I had a great time with my friends, and I thought I could develop and break away from there too."

Solomon did not stop growing and blooming on the grass, but his physical growth was slow. "I was very small physically, and at one point, especially in my teens and teens, it started to bother me. I had big, strong guys in front of me, and I had a hard time. We went to a pediatrician and I was diagnosed with growth.

"Today I am 1.70 meters, which is not high, but then I was much less. I didn't take hormones or anything like that, we knew it would work out over time."

Even before the age of 17, he started playing in the adult team of Maccabi Petah Tikva. "In my first coaching game, I dribbled and moved players, rather than hand over. Coach, Kobe Medicine, screamed at me in the middle of training and told me it was insolence. I burst into tears, in front of everyone. I had a hard time containing it."

he was right?

"Look, on the field I have the audacity, I just want to win. Off the field I'm a humble guy, and even shy. Kobe is the coach who has promoted me the most and been the most significant for me."

Exactly three years ago, at 17 and two months old, as a sophomore at Galilee High School in Kfar Saba, Solomon made his Premier League debut. He played 25 minutes against Hapoel Haifa at Sami Ofer Stadium, where Petach Tikva lost 1: 2. is very. Losing is always disappointing, but on a personal level I had a good game. "

It was a great season to develop hope, which she finished fourth in the standings. The spotlight was directed to the promising young star. "Every loss of my ball, every bad delivery, was observed and measured. During the game, I would be yelling from my teammates. That is how it is in football, and it does not add to self-confidence. In the locker room I kept laughing that I was a kid going to school. Their children to school. "

A month and a half after he started playing in the senior team, Solomon scored his first goal in the 2: 0 victory over Bnei Yehuda in the Colony lot. "I couldn't believe it. I was dreaming about it all my life. Going to the colony! It was great fun."

What did the school friends and teachers say?

"Students wanted to do a selfie with me. The teachers and teachers enlisted to help me. I had an agreement with the school that I come twice a week - the day when there is no training, and the day when there is evening training. The teachers taught me early in the morning, and then I did the tests, alone. It was crazy, but I didn't agree to give it up. I did full matriculation, including five English units. It was important to me. "

Why? You already knew you had a guaranteed career in football.

"I always believed that I would be a great player, but you never know what will happen and where things will turn out. It's always important to learn and develop. I've had an education from home to excellence wherever I am. I'm glad I met."

• • •

Solomon played Maccabi Petah Tikva for two years and scored eight goals in 68 games. It was clear to everyone that he would not stay there for long. And he only wanted Europe.

"I knew that even if I moved to a large group in the country, all I was interested in was going to Europe. After my father Luzon told me that a proposal came from Shakhtar and that it was serious, Dad, Mom and I ran the Internet and read about Donetsk and Ukraine. We saw that the weather was cold and that they were at war with Russia, And that didn't make it easy for me. But I talked to people who knew the club, and they told me it was a huge club and it was a shame to miss the opportunity. "

He was able to serve a few months in a security role in Kirya, on the standard of an outstanding athlete. When the offer came from Ukraine, the army approved a postponement.

Shakhtar Donetsk is Ukraine's champion and reached the Champions League home stage this year. Following the war situation with Russia, the team moved to play in the city of Kharkiv, a half-hour flight from the capital Kiev.

Solomon began playing Shakhtar in January and immediately joined the roster. In his first four games he was crowned three times as the "game man". By the end of last season, in May, he had managed to capture four goals.

"From the moment I arrived, I played in almost all the games. Some 90 minutes, and some I went up as a substitute. I was a winner of the championship in late April, and also of winning the trophy, after we won the 0: 4. I captured the third goal there."

And at that time Maccabi Petah Tikva went down to the National League.

"It annoys me a lot, until the last minute I didn't believe it was going to happen. But I'm sure they'll be up this season already and return to their best place."

He lives in an apartment that the club made available at a luxury complex in Kiev. Because his parents couldn't give up their jobs, his uncle Eli, his mother's brother, moved in with him to leave Nigeria for work there. The complex includes a gym, spa, restaurants, a large supermarket, and more, and other players on the team reside there.

"It's really great that my uncle lives with me. He cooks my mom's food, helps me with the laundry and the housekeeping, and mostly relieves me. You can get into this depression alone, in a foreign country. We go out for a night together, watch a football apartment and TV shows, I always have someone to talk to and who to talk to. My landlord is a Jew who speaks Hebrew, so it's convenient too.

"I started learning Portuguese with a private tutor because our coaching staff is Portuguese, and there are quite a few Brazilian players in the team. I already understand quite a few words in Portuguese. Kiev is a beautiful city, there are great guys here. I have friends in the team, and overall I Satisfied. Of course, there are sometimes longings, my parents, friends, and especially Dana, my girlfriend. There are moments that are difficult, especially on Saturday nights and holidays. "

Were there regrets?

"Not at all. The parents come to visit me every few weeks, they have been here 4-5 times. Both are teachers, so they come on holidays and holidays. During the national team games, I come to Israel, so overall I get along."

With the company discussed. "Talking every day on Skype"

• • •

For a year and three months he has been in a relationship with Dana Voshina (19), a Moorish soldier, whom he has known through friends. "We have great love, and we keep it, despite the distance. It's not easy. She has been here a few times with me, and when I come to Israel we meet all the time. We talk every day on mobile, Wetsap, Skype, Pace-Time. In three weeks there is Here is a month-long winter vacation here, and then we will go to Thailand together. I am already waiting for that. Rest, be together, spend time. "

Next week you have a decisive game against Atletico in the Champions League. A victory will lift you to the eighth final.

"I believe I will play and win. Then my big dream is to play against Barcelona. Against Messi."

And conquer in Camp Nou.

"It's really a crazy dream. I wish. If we really go up and meet Barcelona, ​​I'll make sure my parents sit down again where I see them well. They're probably my mascot."

erannavon9@gmail.com

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2019-12-07

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.