The picantry in the game between Maccabi Netanya and the runner-up Maccabi Tel Aviv (Saturday, 20:30) is without a doubt Gabi Kanikovsky's first encounter with the ex, in which he has become one of the leading players in the league in recent years.
But there's another interesting story about this game, and it has to do with Parfaa Guyagon, the diamond player who belongs to Tel Aviv.
The young player from the Ivory Coast arrived in Netanya on loan this season, as part of the Kanikovsky deal.
He got the first minutes in the senior team from Vladan Ivic, who recognized the huge potential of the relationship and let him play in the top playoff games in the last championship of Maccabi Tel Aviv. Last year he starred in the Yellows' daughter team, which is Betar Tel Aviv. Bat Yam from the National.
"The process that Guyagon is going through is exactly the same process that Dan Glazer went through and other players with us went through," Maccabi Tel Aviv says, regarding the reasons that led them to loan the player to Netanya this year. "Then he came back to us and took a permanent place at Maccabi - it could be that a season or two in Netanya will make Guyagon number 10 of Maccabi Tel Aviv. He gets the significant minutes and stage he needs now."
In the current Maccabi Tel Aviv there is currently no place for Guyagon. This is a team that wants results here and now from its foreign players, and can not deal with the development of young foreigners. Therefore, it is also not surprising that Maccabi has six dominant foreigners In light of all this, it is understandable why Guyagon's loan to Netanya was the right thing for the Yellows, and of course for the player himself.
"See he is something special"
Had it not been for some career mistakes, such as choosing a bad agent, it is likely that Guyagon would not have played today in Israel, probably after impressing in tests in Barcelona and Monaco.
In 2018, he was even included in a respectable list of the 60 most talented players in the world for these ages, according to the Guardian.
And all this, despite difficult opening figures, which included poverty from which he and his family suffered in the Ivory Coast.
In the training of Maccabi Netanya.
The Diamond of Diamonds, Photo: Udi Citation
"Guy is seen as something special, he is a diamond," a Maccabi Tel Aviv source said of him. Even in Netanya, his abilities are complimented: "He has football out of this world." Indeed, his dribble and technique are at the highest level, not something you see along the way. A rule in the Premier League.
Netanya fans got to see these sparks already in the last game against Bnei Sakhnin, when the player scored one of the goals, but mostly did not stop dancing on the field, and handed out ingenious balls to the other players.
The main problem that Guyagon has today is the language difficulties.
His English is quite poor and he speaks only French, and this difficulty is sometimes at odds with him in training and games.
Last year an attempt was made in which he started learning English through a private tutor, but it didn’t really work.
It may be related to language difficulties and maybe not, but in Netanya it is said that in general he is an introverted guy.
Photo: Berni Ardov,
In Netanya, it is hoped that Guyagon's deadly combination with Yaniv Mizrahi last year in Betar Tel Aviv, who played really "on the blind," will now be reflected in Bnei Lam, who will make his debut on the lines tomorrow.
But even more than the combination in question, the Yellows need the 20-year-old Guyagon to become a leading player on the team as soon as possible, and not just be left with great potential that shimmers every few games.
On Saturday, Guyagon will also have the first opportunity to prove to his mother team that he is playing against it without feelings of inferiority, and that he is on the right track to return to Kiryat Shalom from the front door.
