Abdia made history and Madar shattered predictions • Solomon stitched Real and became in demand in Europe • Placzyk and Dolgofiat went on the safe path to an Olympic medal
Danny Abdia.
Top 10 in the draft
Photography:
AP
Solomon Manor.
His breakthrough year
Photography:
EPA
Artium Dolgofiat.
The hot name in the world of gymnastics
Photography:
Getty Images
The year of basketball // Yaakov Meir
2020 is the culmination of a positive process that has been going on for several years.
In fact, over the past year, Israeli basketball has firmly positioned itself on the world basketball map.
The highlight is of course the selection of Danny Abdia and Yam Madar in the NBA Draft since winning with the team at the European Championships until the age of 20 the two have not dropped from the titles, and in the last year the hype around them has reached heights we did not know.
Every week, scouts from all the best league teams in the world landed in Israel one after the other, and the highlight of course came in November, when the Washington Wizards made Abdia the first Israeli in history to be selected in the top ten.
A few hours later, Yam Madar shattered all early predictions and was selected in 47th place by one of the largest, most decorated and best sports organizations in the world - the Boston Celtics.
The success of this talented duo has put Israeli players on the radar and allows many more young people to dream big - a feature that has been lacking in recent years.
But 2020 is really not just Abdia and Madar.
Over the past year, the senior Israeli team has begun to reap the fruits of the rejuvenation process and the successes of the reserve team in recent years, impressively securing its place in the next European Championship with a perfect balance in the qualifying campaign and impressive victories over Spanish champions Spain. Or C) and Poland (twice), who played with most of the squad that finished in eighth place at the last World Championships.
The basketball association is already dreaming of reaching the last eight at the European Championships for the first time since 2003.
Also, after years in which the Israeli player was not an "attractive commodity" in the European player market, seven Israelis - including citizens - went abroad last summer, and Tamir Blatt signed with the Euroleague team, Alba Berlin, which she says is also building on him for next season. The coaches enjoyed a prestigious success in Israeli basketball, when Oren Amiel was chosen as the coach of the season in the Champions League thanks to his achievements with the Czech Nymburk, who was marked (along with Hapoel Jerusalem) as the favorite to win the factory - until the Corona virus appeared and disrupted all plans.
We can only hope that this year will be just the beginning of a much better and more successful decade than the previous decade.
And the truth?
We have good reasons to be optimistic.
Solomon, Manor Solomon // Shai Artzi
Avi Luzon has seen it all in Israeli football.
But what he recognized more than a decade ago in the children's games of his team Maccabi Petah Tikva - world football fans got to see this year on the biggest stage in the world - the Champions League. We are of course talking about Manor Solomon, who 2020 will forever be remembered as his big break year. Slowly, the boy from KPS, right before our eyes, becomes a superstar on an international scale.
It's very easy to fall in love with Solomon.
Thanks to his modesty and great family, and even thanks to his tears after losing a team on penalties to Scotland.
The way he is interviewed is no less impressive.
And the habit?
Another slant.
Solomon reminds many people of Yossi "The Boy from Dimona" Benyon, who became a role model for him and later also became his mentor.
Solomon and Benyon are really similar, but not just because of the modesty and other things around, but because they are football geniuses.
True, Manor is only 21 years old who has to give himself 250 percent in every practice and every game to reach the levels and success that Benyon has had, but he is definitely on the safe track there.
How many Israeli players managed to score and beat Real Madrid in the Champions League?
Benyon and Solomon.
How many managed to do it twice that season?
Only Solomon.
The only Israeli to score more goals than him in the Champions League is the legendary number 15.
At this rate he will conquer this summit as well.
When you look at the goal he scored after a huge personal operation in October against Real Madrid or the winning goal against Scotland after rounding out Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominy, you realize that Solomon is a once-in-a-lifetime player, just as Benyon or Eyal Berkowitz were.
A player who gives hope to an entire country under whose leadership the Israeli team will soon reach the Euros or the World Cup.
And now, after almost three seasons at Shakhtar Donetsk, it seems that Solomon is due to move to a bigger team in Europe.
Super agent Pini Zahavi is already trying to match him to several senior teams in England including West Ham, Arsenal and Tottenham.
Market estimates suggest that the Israeli diamond will be sold for a record amount to an Israeli footballer, ranging from 20 to 40 million euros.
Rest assured it will happen maybe as early as January, maybe next summer.
And this will be a hysterical and historic deal in terms of Israeli football.
But no matter how big and prestigious Solomon's move will be, the humble midfielder will continue to stay with his feet on the ground to fulfill his biggest dream - to play for Barcelona.
Peace agreement on the field // Shai Artzi
So many crazy things happened in Israel in 2020.
Prominent among them were the peace agreements signed with some Arab countries, including the one with the United Arab Emirates, which brought with it a huge message to Israeli football.
It is clear that without the agreement in question there would not have been a tiny percentage that a Muslim sheikh would acquire 50 percent of the control of Betar Jerusalem. Thanks to the big money that will come from Sheikh Hemed Ben Khalifa.
Big money is the highlight of the current era.
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahian turned Manchester City into a superpower thanks to his fortune.
Nasser al-Khalafi did it in Paris Saint-Germain.
This is why these teams are the only ones who want and can really get their hands on the No. 1 footballer in the world this summer - Leo Messi.
True, world-renowned stars will not really get to the Premier League or Betar Jerusalem anytime soon, but that should not be the goal either. The money that can go into Israeli football from the UAE can go to other important things: improving the poor facilities, investing in youth and children, and along the way To land here some quality foreigners better than those of $ 100,000 who are replaced after half a season.
The first to identify the huge potential of these agreements is the chairman of the leagues administration, Erez Kalfon, who quickly signed a cooperation agreement with the administration of the United Arab Emirates. The parties have already discussed the establishment of a joint venture capital fund, technological ventures, and you can imagine how much money this will bring in Israeli football.
The association also signed a cooperation agreement with its emirate counterpart, with friendship between the national teams at stake.
Dia Seba became the first Israeli in the UAE Premier League, and in the future there will be more and more Israelis flocking there.
Even Maccabi Haifa has agreed on a business and sports collaboration with the Al-Ain team, from Abu Dhabi.
On the topic: friendly games called "Peace Games".
Bet: These will not be the latest collaborations.
Olympic Hope // Adi Rubinstein
An interesting decision was made by the Olympic Sports Achievement Unit - to return the athletes to the competition in the middle of the Corona season.
The various European Championships have not been steeped in stars, and most of the countries that have secured their place in the Olympics do not compete and do not send representatives to competitions due to the fear of being infected with the virus.
Israel has decided to send our top, thinking that this vacuum can increase confidence, create deterrence in front of other competitors in the various industries, and streamline the system even if no one still knows whether the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will take place or not.
This decision turned out to be right and successful, and not just to raise low national morale.
But in the general chaos that prevails in world Olympic sports one has to establish facts on the ground especially when nothing is really clear.
Take judo, for example.
The postponement of the Olympics was bad for the Israelis.
Sagi Muki looked like a confident medalist, and quietly talked about another medal that might be "stolen".
One of the names raised is that of Peter Placzyk (up to 100kg). The rejection led to two main things: the injured Muki does not compete and prepares himself for the Summer Olympics, while Placic took the stage to break through with all his might. The gold medal at the European Championships Raised him to first place in the world and sent a clear message: Take me into account in your scenarios to Tokyo.For Placzyk the breakthrough was twofold, professional and image: participating in Ninja Israel and making him our greatest hope right now, at least until Muki becomes world number one in his category.
The story of Artium Dolgofiat in gymnastics is different, but similar.
He was injured and recovered, but a medal in Tokyo seemed like a pretty difficult task.
Only then did the corona arrive, the games were postponed, and at the European Championships in Turkey, a moment after finishing the gold drill on the ground, Dolgofiat looked at his leg to make sure it was just the usual pain and no trace of the old injury.
The absence of senior officials from the competition and Japanese control of the industry were supposed to cool the enthusiasm, but in practice Dolgofyat became the gold candidate at the Olympics, even though they will be held in Japan.
The talk today in the industry is clear: the Israeli returns with a medal from one of the three most important industries, the only question is what color.