The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Minister of Defense: Eli Dassah kicks conventions Israel today

2021-03-19T14:10:29.388Z


Just before the World Cup qualifiers open, national team defender Eli Desa recalls how at the age of 14 he became the breadwinner of his family, and admits: I am in love | You sat down


Just before the World Cup qualifiers open, Dutch national team defender Vitsa Arnham Eli Desa recalls how at the age of 14 he became the breadwinner of his mother and brother ("I did not speak to my father for six years"), justifying the Ethiopian community protest ("Unfortunately, only when you use force look at you") ), And admits: I'm in love

  • "From the day I had a drop of wisdom in my mind I knew I would be a footballer."

    Eli Desa in the Netherlands

    Photo: 

    'Vitesse |

    Paul Meima '

Eli Desa spent the previous

Seder night

alone in the city of Arnhem in the east of the Netherlands.

No family, no friends, no Jewish community.

Alone alone.



"The league was just canceled here, at that time there were no more Israeli players in the Netherlands, so I did my best alone. I organized a Seder night for myself, because I also save, so no zoom and such. I asked the team manager to print a Passover Haggadah file I sent her. At home, I sang, drank, shouted, read the Haggadah and enjoyed every moment. "



This year, Desa will spend Passover with his Israeli teammates.

The team will open its World Cup qualifiers next Thursday in the game against Denmark in Bloomfield, and on Sunday will host Scotland.

The task of getting a ticket to the World Cup, for the first time since 1970, again seems not easy.



"One has to stay with one's feet on the ground and not make extraordinary statements, because that would not be true," says Desa.

"There are better rivals than us, and we have to accept that. I'm not saying we're coming to be humiliated, or that we'll come up with ready-made excuses, but it's important to be realistic: on paper it's going to be very difficult to reach the playoffs this time. Easy games for national teams.



"Denmark are a team of monsters.

And yet, it is forbidden to go on a pessimistic pitch.

If it's a way of thinking, then it's better to retire. "



Eran Zehavi said he would not retire before going up to a big tournament.



" I would not underestimate something this man says. "



Are you glad Rotensteiner stayed in the coaching role?



" I was happy.

Rotensteiner began a process.

We, the footballers, see very well what he is doing, even though it is not yet reflected in the results and achievements.

Israeli spectators like to see a team that plays well, and there was no game that we did not try and give our souls.



"The problem is that in Israel there is no patience. People think that the Czech Republic is at our level, and forget that half of its squad plays in the Premier League in England, and half of the squad in Germany. They are not like us.



" Many countries have advanced in recent years.

Ten years ago, they still thought that Belgium was at the level of Israel, and today they are in first place in the world.

Therefore, the Israeli team must go through a much longer and deeper process than the time that people in the country are willing to give it.



"So Willie started making a change, it's going to take time, and that's another reason to appreciate him. He has to go through wars on everything, because nothing with us is simple. The team is not in the country's priorities, not interested in people who need to develop young players and build facilities, because "There are more important issues on the agenda. Walk around here in the Netherlands, you will see in the neighborhood much better facilities than those that have teams in the Premier League in the country. It hurts to say that."



Desa (28) has been wearing the team's shirt for six years, making 32 appearances in its ranks, including one outstanding last year in Scotland, when he paralyzed Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson in a match for promotion to the Euro Playoff final - where Israel lost a painful penalty shootout.



Did you take that miss hard?



"In the team you drag the pain for a few days, and then everyone disperses to their teams, and it dissipates. There was a great feeling of missing out, Eran Zehavi cried after the game. It was hard. But I was on the team for many years, and this time the texture is really different. An eye that does not want its success.



"Once upon a time, after a team game, so much shit would come out.

Today, this shit only exists if someone wants to say it.

What's fun is that he no longer leaves the team's locker room. "

* * *

For a year and a half, Desa has been playing in the right-back position of Vitessa Arnham.

His team is in fourth place in the Dutch league and is chasing Ers Zehavi's PSV Eindhoven, second in the table, who is 4 points ahead of them.

Desa has already recorded six assists in 24 league games this season, and he gets a lot of compliments among the team's fans.



He lives in Arnhem with his girlfriend Jordan (25), a five-minute drive from the stadium, and spends his time between the pitch and the house.

He has not met the family in the country since last June, "but I am no longer in a place of longing. I know that when I play in the Netherlands, I create a better life for my family."



Why did you decide to sign Arnham?



"I had all kinds of offers, but I thought I could make the leap to one of the best leagues in the world - Spain, Germany, England or Germany. Otherwise there really was no reason to leave Maccabi Tel Aviv. I hope it happens this summer. I have a contract for another year. Barnham, and they might prefer to sell me before the end of the contract.



"Sharan Yeni played here in 2016.

He died for the club.

He explained to me that the mentality here is different - for example, taking more losses in Izzy, not like in the country, that after a loss you are buried at home and afraid to take your head off, that they will not see you spending somewhere.



"I had a long conversation with Jordi Cruyff, we are in good contact from the Maccabi era. He gave me tips on how I could attract my eyes, how to connect to social life, and so on."



Desa started the season in all the games he was qualified for, and is the player with the most minutes in his team, in all settings.

"At the beginning of the season I spoke with the coach, Thomas Letch. He coached Alon Turgeman in Austria and knew Sean Weissman. I told him about my goals, who I am and what I am, and how I run. We have a really good connection. In my position there is no one else. Who competes with me for the position, unlike in the other positions. I am the only right-back in the squad.



"The staff at the club work in offices until late.

It happened several times that at the end of a day like this, 6pm, the trainer came to the gym and saw me there, even though the workout was already over at noon.

He did not understand why I was still there.

I told him I like to exercise, that it's part of my job.



"Abroad, you look at football differently than in Israel.

In Israel it is possible to go out of proportion after someone's good play.

It does not exist in the Netherlands.

You have to prove yourself throughout a season or two that there are players in the piles.

And if this pile is not good for you, then bring in a player from Germany or France.

In Israel, the market is small. "

* * *

Last September, his girlfriend Jordan Arad joined Desa, after the two decided to take the relationship between them one step further.

"This is the first time in my life that I live with a friend," he smiles.

"For years, I was not interested in a relationship. I would go out, have fun, but I preferred to invest in the family and concentrate on football. It really bothered my mother, that I stopped my life for them.



" Only when I went abroad did the distance give me an understanding that the family would do without me. I managed to concentrate on myself, to let go. And I found pure gold.



"The story between us has been rolling for a year.

Jordan is a native of Binyamina, having now completed a law degree from the College of Management.

I look back, and can not believe I lived here a whole year alone.

Today, if she's not here for two hours, I'm going crazy.

My friends always said, 'When he finds someone, it's going to be all or nothing.'

I have no games. "



So you already offered?



" Wait.

How many people are allowed to enter the event today?

century?

I need to be able to order as much as possible.

So it's not burning right now. "



In early December, the couple fell ill in Corona. To this day, they do not know who they were infected with.



" I was very scared of it, "says Desa." My friends from the Israeli team, who were infected, told me how difficult it was for them.

But with us overall it was fine.

We both lost our sense of taste and our sense of smell, and that's it.

I had to miss two games of the team. "



Do you have friends in town?



" There are not too many off-field connections.

There is a synagogue in the city, but it is inactive.

"Most Jews live in Amsterdam, 100 km from here. I can not live there when I have training every day. Besides, I am here for football, not for friends."



Do you spend time with Zehavi and his wife?



"We meet mainly for Kiddush on Saturday night, according to restrictions. Jordan has a good connection with Shai, Eran's wife. They connected very much in the days of the Corona. There is currently a night curfew that starts at 9 pm, so a visit to the supermarket is the highlight of the day."

You have already played twice this season against Zehavi.

Once you won, once you lost, and you both scored goals.

How did it feel? 



"It was the first time I played against an Israeli player in a rival team abroad.

We both played well in both games.

In one of the moves I shouted to our defensive players not to take their eyes off him and keep him close, even when the ball is not in the dangerous area.

He heard me, came to me and said, 'Wait wait for Friday table.'

We had a lot of trash talk in Hebrew during the game.

Of course at the end of the game we hugged and changed shirts. " 



He had a difficult adaptation to PSV.



" True, he arrived in a new country, the beginning was not comfortable.

Just as the paragons he receives are huge, so are the criticisms of him.

But the December break did him good, he could stop and reset himself.

He is a champion at it, he knows how to deal with crises. 



"Bottom line, the man knows how to give exiles. That's what people like. His suffix is ​​from the top of the top. He's never going to leave the Netherlands before he shows them who he is. It's Eran."

* * *

Desa's parents, Elmo and Herut, immigrated to Israel in 1991 as part of Operation Shlomo, from the village of Gondar in Ethiopia.

"My mother was very young when she came to Israel, barely 18 years old, and pregnant with my older sister. They were placed at a caravan site in Haifa, where the Sami Ofer Stadium is today. I was born there in late '92, and grew up there until the age of 5, with all Ethiopian immigrants, all In everyone. All day on the street. Playing football.



"Wow, that was my most beautiful time in life.

No worries, close to the sea.

My parents were not home most of the day, and the house is not really a house, because everything is very small, broken and open.

Cats, mice and cockroaches all around, and everything is more crowded than living in the military.

But as a child I had fun. "



From there, the family moved to Ness Ziona, and this was Dassah's first encounter with Israeli society." I entered a mixed school.

I was a quiet and introverted kid, looking at all the kids equally.

But not everyone was like me. "



Experienced racism?



" Yes, there were not easy moments, but I knew how to ignore.

Moments like this have always given me a drive, I would think to myself: these people will not get anywhere, and they will still see where I get to. "



When did you know you would be a footballer?



" From the day I had a drop of intelligence in my mind.

I was outside all day, playing in the neighborhood.

One level above them all.

All my friends were already registered in the children's group of the Ness Ziona section, and I could not go with them because it was very expensive.

NIS 3,000 per year.



"During school breaks the children talked about training after school, and I was very frustrated. Only after two years did the municipality start subsidizing football for new immigrants, and at the same time, my parents worked very hard so I could sign up and play on the team.



" Football in the children's departments.

That way we lose a lot of tremendous talents, who are walking down the street and there is no one to direct them.

In the end, everyone loses - society, children, families and clubs.

"



Did the difficulties of earning a living affect your life as a child?



" They were a part of my life.

My mother worked in the morning as an assistant to a kindergarten teacher, and at night cleaned a college building.

My sister and I would go with her in the evenings to clean, and we would help her tick it off.

I was 7 years old, and it went on for a few years like that.

Sometimes we would go there in the morning, before school.

I swear to you we really liked it.

We had a family experience of going to work with mom, playing there like kids, and also a little help.

These experiences shape you.

My father worked in sewage tankers, and later as a bus driver at Dan. "The



situation at home directly affected

Dassah

's career. At the age of 13, he was accepted into the Maccabi Tel Aviv boys' team, but found it difficult to make ends meet.

"I did not have the money to travel to Tel Aviv. The family of Roi Kehat, who played with me and lived in Ness Ziona, raised me like a son during this period. His father really adopted me, drove me to training, and that's how I survived."

* * *

At the age of 14, he left Maccabi, after it refused to pay for him for bus trips from Ness Ziona to Tel Aviv.

"The story was there was 60 shekels a month on a ticket. I could no longer get to training, I had nowhere to bring that money. They did not want to release me, so I went into quarantine - which means I was banned from training for three months, at the end of which I received the player card. I said 'Thank you very much, I'm going', and only then did they try to persuade me to stay and promise me things, like bounce me a year. But if I'm so important to them, they could invest in me when I asked. It hurt me, because I gave it my all. nor did any problems.



"during the conflict with Maccabi Eitan Mizrahi called me, who directed the Academy of Betar, and said to me: 'come to me tomorrow, you get everything from me. from that stop worrying. That's what I needed at that time, someone one "Tell me a sentence like that. That's all."

The relationship between the parents gradually deteriorated, and they divorced in 2008.

"None of them explained to us why it happened, but in one second the whole house fell apart. My mother, who was pregnant, stayed at home with my sister Michal, who was 15, and my brother Or, who was 9. I just left for Jerusalem for a Betar boarding school. .

There was anger and tension between everyone.

Then my brother, Leroy, was born.

This is where my worries in life began.



"My parents' divorce proceedings took a long time, alimony was not paid, and it increased the difficulty of subsisting. Dad's lawyer demanded that the house be sold and the proceeds divided in half. The mother had a free lawyer, funded by the state.



" At this point I decided to intervene. .

I was a young and angry kid, who took it upon himself to sign things and take all the responsibility on him, without any lawyer.

I signed that we were giving up alimony and took on all the responsibilities of the family - a mortgage, taking care of my siblings until they reached the age of 18, taking care of household affairs.

I had no idea how I was going to meet it, but I promised myself that it was the task of my life, and from now on I get up every day to fulfill my part in this agreement.

At the age of 14 my adulthood began.



"Looking back, I feel sorry for the child I was then. It's not a responsibility that children have to take on, and it's a shame there was no adult who stopped me. On the other hand, that's what made me who I am today, so somewhere, I'm thanking God for that. ".



Are you angry with your father?



"Very. My mother said to me from day one: 'Eli, you need to stop being angry with him. Call him, talk to him.' But I was not willing to listen. Maybe I was angry at him somewhere, that everything fell on me. I was not ready for that. I said to myself. , Why should I lose my childhood because of him.



"I was very hurt by my mother, who thought no one saw her suffering, because she always tried to appease and soften us all.

So I did my best to make it easier for her.

I thought that being angry with my father was actually punishing him by her name. "



Have you forgiven him since?



" At first I could not forgive.

There was a six-year rift between us after he left, we did not talk at all.

I did not accept his departure, the fact that he was not there for us.

I had a brother, and a father was not found.



"When I was growing up, I realized that people make mistakes in life. I decided to just let go. I said to myself, you can be angry for the rest of your life, but it doesn't contribute anything. And I forgave."



How is your relationship with him today?



"I respect him. We talk."

* * *

At the age of 14, Desa began studying at a boarding school in Jerusalem.

"Eitan Mizrahi adopted me, like a child. I would eat with him, sleep with him. At the Betar academy, scholarships were given to children according to their academic achievements.

Footballers usually do not like to study, it does not interest them, but I had to.

I knew that good grades were worth a NIS 700 scholarship to me, and that was money I could pass on to the family.



"I would commit suicide on the grades, bring a check here and there, and indulge in feeling. It was not that I had any choices. I had no one to lean on anymore, I became the father of the house, the breadwinner. The anchor.



" That's also what pushed me to try to reach the senior team Of Betar already at the age of 17. I knew that I could not do three years in the youth, like others, but must obtain a professional contract as soon as possible. "

In 2010 he started playing in the senior team.

For five years he played in Betar 123 games, scored goals and cooked in bulk. He did his military service in the logistics corps in Tzrifin, as an outstanding athlete.



In the summer of 2015, he was acquired by Maccabi Tel Aviv.

According to reports, she paid him 600,000 euros.

He left the distress he had left in his youth team behind, and in 145 games in the media he scored six goals, won the national championship in 2019 and appeared with it in the home stage of the Champions League (2016).



In the summer of 2019, when the group offered him to extend his contract, Desa negotiated with her alone, and not through an agent.

"I was no longer a 15-year-old, and I knew I was mature enough to handle it on my own, even though it was rare. Agents sometimes take the side of the club, and I was not prepared for anyone to work on me anymore.



" I found myself day after day in offices, in conversations Intensity with the CEO and the owner. And I can leave the meeting unhappy, and then have to neutralize emotions and go up to practice. It was like a lesson for life. I would sit and go through everything, calculate all the numbers and look for new sections that can help bridge the gaps. .



"when Israeli agents heard me the numbers I got them alone negotiations with Maccabi Tel Aviv, they did not believe.

Some told me, 'When you finish football, you come to work for my agency.'

This was perhaps the most expensive contract ever offered to Magen in Israel.



“At the same time, I asked some agents to offer me groups abroad.

I could not do it alone, because I was an active player, and it does not look good when you make contact with teams abroad and offer yourself.



"I already had a drafted contract with Maccabi, but in the end I decided not to sign and wait for a concrete offer from abroad. "I gambled on my career. Money was not a factor in the choice, everything was purely professional. I gave up a good life in Israel to fulfill the dream and break the glass ceiling."



Do you already have an agent today?



"From the moment I decided I was going on a career in Europe at all costs, I took on a foreign agent, Milos Melanovich. He is also Moanes Dabour's agent."

* * *

As a successful footballer, do you have a sense of mission towards the Ethiopian community?



"I do not like that word, mission. I try to take my publicity to a place of author, not to a place that deepens the rift. I do not seek to be a role model, but do want to convey a message that things are possible. In Israel, I would go to community centers a lot and volunteer.

Get out of the bubble of football and fame and give back to society, and show people who are in a situation where I was that anything is possible. "



Are you angry at the country because of the treatment of Ethiopians?



" I do not agree with a lot of things being done, but I have no anger.

There are problems all over the world, in every hole, between peoples and religions.

You can not be angry at the whole world, there is no point in that.

I do not like to light fires and make messes.

I also will not choose a side just because I am black, nor will I say that everything we do is right, and everything a white person does is wrong.

Definately not.



"But I was there, and I know what a crumbling house and what a tremendous shortage these children come from, and what a lack of treatment they get from society, and what a hostile treatment they get from the police. No one made assumptions for me. I came, took, did my best and made the dream come true. .



"you do not even understand the difficulties, which we go through on a daily basis, almost every situation.

Even today I can go to the supermarket in Israel, and regularly there will be someone who will approach me and ask me if I can bring him a product that is missing on the shelf.

Always think I work there.

When I drive a car that the group rented for me, they will stop me and ask for car licenses, because for them it is unlikely that this car is mine.



"One day my mother got off the elevator, in the building where I live in Israel, and one of the neighbors asked her without hesitation if she was available to clean her house at the weekend.



"I do not judge people when it happens, because the problem is not with the person himself - it is the result of the education he received. An adult can no longer be changed, so it is important to influence the younger generation."



Did you support the stormy demonstrations of the members of the community?



"I supported the demonstrations and opposed the violence. Every minority in Israeli society, as soon as it opens its mouth to say how hard it is for it, is told: 'You like to be approached.' And that is a problem. Unfortunately, only when you use force and violence, they look at you.



" A man of violence, but no matter how you turn it around, those demonstrations created a significant echo.

Suddenly the discourse was concentrated on the Ethiopians, and they gave it importance.



"On the other hand, instead of affecting the decision-makers, it only affected citizens who say, 'Leave me alone, just so they don't block the road for me again.' Apparently such a change is not made in a single demonstration."



Have you encountered racist phenomena in the Netherlands?



"No. The only thing about me that is strange to the Dutch is that I am a Jew, because they are not used to seeing a black Jew. They did not know that such a thing existed."

* * *

You are a friend of Dor Micha and Noble Omar.

What did you think of the public criticism of them in the girls' affair?



"If the police have ruled that there is no place for them to be indicted, why crucify people? They were misled, otherwise it would not have ended as it did. There are very, very young girls in clubs, and let's be real: no one today asks for identity cards from people. Fake certificates.



"I'm sure there's a regret within them that they made no more effort to check the girls' age, and did what seemed right to them at that moment.

The case is closed out of innocence, so everyone will take their moral interpretation wherever they think.

The police have determined that they are entitled, and I go with them. "



Maccabi Tel Aviv decided to release them.



"Alona Barkat decided to take Micha to Hapoel B'Shlosha, and Yankele Shachar took Noble to Haifa.

Yankele is not just anyone, he is a very valued person, so if one of them decided like that, there are probably more sides to the coin. 



"I'm not saying that only the girls were wrong or that only Dor and Omar were wrong. In the end both sides were wrong, and everyone was hurt by it."



Would you like to return to Maccabi in the future?



"There is no doubt, after embracing the European potential. At the moment, my plan is to stay abroad for many years."



Which club are you more connected to, Maccabi or Betar?



"Betar is the one who gave me the stage, and suffered my immature period as a young actor who makes a lot of mistakes.

I received support there from day one to last.

I came to Maccabi as a mature player, and even there I was enveloped in love.

I can not choose which one I like more.

When I was a child and lived in caravans in Haifa, I was a Maccabi Haifa fan in general, but it passed me by quickly. "



What do you think about the situation of Betar today?



"Betar is a huge club. It is in a less good season, it happens. There are good people there, who give their soul, and I really wish them to reap the rewards as soon as possible."



When you left for Maccabi, the fans of La Familia cursed you.



"It comes from a place of pain, because they loved me. Then you go abroad, and suddenly everyone releases.

"You no longer belong to any Israeli club, and everyone loves you as a player who plays abroad and is proud that you played for them in the past, and it will be nice. Although I am physically far away, it is the most fun in the world to see me praised and appreciated in my country."



Are you already thinking about the day after football?



"I take all kinds of courses online to make sure I can manage the day after. Football does not last a lifetime. I aim to play for another seven or eight years, until the age of 36-35. I can waste the money I earn unconsciously, or take advantage of the time. Learn and read and experiment, to leverage myself to a place where the good life will continue even after retirement. This is the education I received at home, you can not rest on your laurels. You have to strive to progress.



"I heard stories about players who had everything, and today, after retiring, they have nothing , Because they did unwise things.

so sad.

I said to myself, I am not ready for this to happen to me. " 



What are you learning?



" For the past three years I have had the privilege of flying from topic to topic.

"I am very interested in the capital market and real estate, fields that I studied in Israel at Psagot College at the time. I am now studying the entire basics of economics, business administration, management, marketing, sales."

nirw@israelhayom.co.il

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-03-19

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.