Explosion and reconciliation with the owner ("I felt I could talk to them like Dad, but it was a mistake - they are my employers") • Anger at Nisso Avitan ("I didn't want to be the actual TA leader") • And the sweet immigration celebration for the top playoffs (" Feel that something good is happening ”) • Oral Degani uninhibited

• Degani with his wife Bar and his children On and Arya. "First of all a family man"

  Photo:

  Danny Maron

In the summer, Ural Degani took out a pen and pen and recorded the pros and cons for him as a Tel Aviv player. These were the days when he was absorbed by the club's owners because of his request for a 15 percent salary upgrade. That decision turned out to be correct, after Degani managed to qualify with the Reds for the top playoffs, and a win over Hapoel Raanana in the quarterfinals tonight will put him two games away from the title.

The days have passed, and Degani has already returned to be the captain of the Reds. It was one of Nir Klinger's first decisions when he took office. Today the brake allows itself to open the heart in an exclusive interview with "Israel Today". "If I wanted to leave in the summer - I would leave. I did not behave well, so I had thoughts that I might have to go, but I never said I wanted to do it."

Are you hurt by the Nissanov brothers?

"I was hurt because I was in good contact with them and I felt I could talk to them like Dad, but that's part of my mistake. A player doesn't have to call the owners, because in the end it's business and they are my employers. It hurt me when they tried to paint me as a greed, "I deserve every penny I earn. I do everything to be better: working hard, living a sporty and professional life, and that brings receipts. I asked for a raise, but I didn't ask for anything excessive. I'm not an egoist. We apologized and moved on."

How did you survive it after the fall season you were ostracized?

"I went through a few things in football, but growing up, I got a lot quieter and calculated. I think the Nissanobos appreciate me ten times today for everything I've been through, and of course because I play well. Not fun when you hurt and don't want to be a captain, but I really don't know who was Responsible for that - the coach or the owner. However, I kept giving 100 percent of myself. I think I behaved very nicely with them, except once I wrote what I think. "

Professionally and economically, are they the people who need to lead Hapoel Tel Aviv?

"We will set aside what was with me and other players, because these are things that should not happen. They deserve the honor they took the club during its most difficult period, when no one wanted to do it after Amir Kabiri. Be somewhere else - at the top of Israeli football. Today we are not there. With a different budget we can do that. To get to the top you need a much bigger budget than we have. Once every one million years, you see championships like Kash Urban or Lester City.

Cereal vs. Schechter. "Some fans won't forget the 3: 2 loss to Derby" // Photo: Alan Shaver

Degani's blast with the owner drew a lot of headlines, but there was another side to the story - the previous coach tried Avitan. The two did not broadcast on the same wave from the first moment, and Degani was one of the first to pay the price. "It may be surprising, but I was glad that Avitan came to work because he did nice things with her room. Things happened between me that I wouldn't open in the media, and I believe he knew what it was about. Probably Avitan didn't want me as a leader. You could say it was the straw that broke the camel's back. "

You're mad at trying.

"I'm angry at him for hurting me for nothing. I wasn't disgruntled or poisoned my teammates. Even if you're angry with the coach, you don't have to act like that. I talked to him with four eyes and told him exactly what I think, but I'll never hurt the team "Everyone knows he's great with me, with Omar Damari and a few other players. He couldn't touch the senior players. His social dynamics were not good."

One of the things that hindered Cereal and other players was the penalties Avitan sentenced. "It seems illogical and unprofessional to tell the player not to eat after training," says Degani. "Do you want to punish us? Everything is good, but after training a player must get food and drink, these are basic conditions."

How do you explain the change that Klinger did?

"Apart from tactics, a team needs to team up with its coach, whose locker room is solidified. The players are connected to Klinger, he took the seniors and brought them closer. We are happier, and that leads to better games. I think more games for Nir and less played for Nyso. At Klinger, too, we got pies on the way: the quartet from Netanya, the Haifa quintet and the derby trio, but he knew how to lift us and respect everyone. Avitan couldn't do that. "

Haven't you exaggerated with the qualifying celebration for the top playoffs?

"We fell apart. We went through a very difficult season and we did an amazing second round. The fact that the whole team was happy and that the bench celebrated and jumped in to the field indicates the new dynamics in the team. When all the bench players want the team to succeed - it shows that something good is happening. , We are allowed to celebrate. "

"I feel at my peak"

Degani is one of the most recognized players in recent years with Hapoel Tel Aviv, but the only title he has is with Maccabi Haifa (the National Cup). "I feel I am at my peak. It tickles me to take a championship, to be in Europe, to experience the good things about football. In the last few years I have become accustomed to being in bottom struggles and I really don't enjoy it. The pressure is always, football is not football, not facing the big ones. I want to take degrees. My dream is to win a championship with Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Do you feel a symbol in the verb?

"This symbol is a blown word. Fans say 'You are a symbol', I hear it a lot. I am very attached to this club and it is part of me, but for me this symbol is someone whose whole life has played in one club. Today there are no such things. "I always remember the derby where we lost 3: 2. That derby made me a better player."

You were a part of the fall season. Is that something you can atone for?

"When I went down to the league, I promised I would bring the team back to its best times. We're not there yet, but being in the top playoffs is already something. You can't erase that stain, but taking a title - it would be a huge compensation."

In the national uniform against Austrian Arnautovich. "I'm underrated" // Photo: Ami Shuman

You are invited to the team almost regularly, and still not appreciated enough. Why?

"Being in the team is the greatest honor there is, even if I don't play. Probably very difficult for the media to challenge defensive players who don't play in the top three teams. I don't like to talk about myself, but I'm underrated. I don't appreciate as much as I think I deserve. Today in Maccabi Haifa, maybe they would talk about me differently. I have no idea why people are a little harder to question me. "

As a brake, are you jealous of Maccabi's defense?

"Well done to them, they hardly absorb. If I envy them it's the championships and the titles they win. I want too."

Toward three in the afternoon, Degani is already glancing at his watch: "Only I won't be late to get the kids out of kindergarten." This sentence is rare to hear from footballers, but Degani is first of all a family man. Twice a week, he dedicates a net to his two children on and off: from gathering in the gardens, through games during the day and into the showers and anesthesia in the evening. He tries to help his wife Bar and admits: "I'm a daddy at half-time. Football and family are the essence of my life.