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All roads lead: Closing the circle of Barak Bachar at Maccabi Haifa

Barak Bachar has dreamed of Maccabi Haifa since he was a child and subscribed to stand C.

Drapich revealed to him how he missed the green shirt as a player, the Shahar family preferred an experienced coach and marked his way to Be'er Sheva, but after many years, the ambition came true and the coach is on his way to becoming a savior after a decade without a championship

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• Barak Bachar

• Maccabi Haifa

Shlomo Weiss

Wednesday, 26 May 2021, 14:40 Updated: 17:09

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Excited no less than the fans in the stands. Bachar (Photo: Walla !, Maor Elkelsi)

At the end of Maccabi Haifa's victory over MS Ashdod on Sunday, one of the journalists asked Barak Bachar if he was aware that hundreds of children "pushed a stick" into their noses before the game in the hope that they would celebrate a green championship for the first time in their lives.

Bachar, who grew up as a fan of Maccabi Haifa in Kiryat Eliezer, replied: "Just talking about it makes me shiver. I so want to win the championship at Maccabi Haifa, but I so do not want to miss it and that's why I am focused."

Bachar's excitement is not fake.

Anyone who knows him knows that alongside his great desire to produce a successful career, he dreamed of succeeding in the green uniform.

The ambitions as a child from the nearby enclosure were to make a mark in the club he grew up with, in the team that held a subscription to its games - in the mythical C stand.

During his career, both as a player and as a coach, Bachar missed several opportunities to fulfill his dream and belong to the green club from Carmel - until last summer came and he reached the standard of the savior who needs to return the crown.

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Speed ​​does not always pay off

Towards the end of the 2003/2004 season, Barak Bachar, then the right-back of Hapoel Petah Tikva, realized that although he had two excellent seasons, coach Freddie David wanted to bring another defender at his expense. Bachar did not understand why after the two best seasons of his career they were trying to push him to the bench, he understood the hint and hurried out to the market.

Kiryat Shmona was then in the national league and Izzy Shretzky hurried to sign Bachar. In the end, Kalmi Saban signed with Hapoel Petah Tikva and Bachar felt that he acted correctly when he moved - probably after Shretzky made it clear to Magen that his vision is to turn Kiryat Shmona into a leading club in Israeli football within a few years.

A few months passed and Bachar met by chance the assistant coach of Maccabi Haifa in those days, Slobodan Drapic.

In a conversation between the two, Drapich wondered why the defender rushed to sign in the National League and did not wait for offers.

Bachar explained that he wanted to find an orderly team and prepare for the following season, before the assistant coach of Maccabi Haifa surprised: "Too bad you did it, you were a very leading candidate with us, we wanted to bring you. We did not understand how you rushed to the national league."

Bachar was of course disappointed to hear that he missed an opportunity to fulfill a dream and play in the green uniform, but focused on successes with the northern team and those did rush to arrive.

Both as a player and as a coach, Maccabi Haifa has always been in the background (Photo: Berni Ardov)

In the margins of the titles

Bachar, who played against Maccabi Tel Aviv in its memorable championship game at the end of the 2002/3 season, really hoped to surprise in the Hapoel Petah Tikva uniform and make his many friends happy among Maccabi Haifa fans, but the Blues gave up 3-0 and the Greens missed the title in a great season, just because of a goal difference.

Eight years passed and the defender who was injured in 2010 and spent the 2010/11 season mainly in the stands and in treatments, saw how the Greens beat his team Kiryat Shmona 0: 2 and were crowned a year after the heartache of the offseason season. The day after that game the headlines in the media were about the celebrations of the Greens rising from the boards and despite the last minute miss in the season before they managed to rise and win the championship. Only those who scrolled the sites down, could notice the knowledge that Becher had decided to hang up his shoes and retire.

That season, in which Bachar was absent for a long time, Izzy Shretzky approached him and said: "I want you to go to a coaching course, I believe in you very much."

The defender who did not think at all about a coaching career and just wanted to get back to playing, agreed and obtained a coaching certificate "on the road".

When he realized that he would not return from the injury and asked to retire, Shretzky was there and informed him that he was appointing him as Ran Ben Shimon's assistant.

"Anyone who knows Izzy knows he's not offering or asking, he just states," says a source jokingly in detail, "he had conversations with Bachar even when he was a player and Izzy was always impressed by his understanding of the game. So he believed he could make him a head coach and successful In Kiryat Shmona. "

Shretzky insisted and Bachar took a coaching course.

The rest is history (Photo: Yossi Tzipkis)

Green brakes

Sheretzky's bet paid off and Bachar did become Rabash's assistant during the championship season and a successful coach himself who led Kiryat Shmona to win the cup. In early 2015, Bachar, who established his status as a young and promising coach, did not hold a contract for the following season in Kiryat Shmona. The owner, who knew how big Bachar's dream was to coach Maccabi Haifa, talked to the club's leaders from Carmel but they made it clear to him that they preferred a coach with more experience and signed ex Roni Levy. Bachar eventually moved to Be'er Sheva and the rest is history.

Five years have passed and Bachar has changed from a promising coach to the most senior Israeli coach.Towards the end of last season, despite a good season under Marco Belbul, the Shahar family made a decision to bring someone else to stand on the lines and Bachar was marked as a favorite.In the first meeting between Or Shahar and Bachar, mutual love fell. And it was clear to everyone that the direction was the coach's signing.

"Obviously it was a dream for Barak to fulfill what he wanted as a child," says a source in Israeli football who is very friendly with the coach, "but anyone who knows Barak knows that he is not satisfied with dreams from the past and that's it. His dream was one - to bring championship to the club after many years of Disappointments. "

Indeed, Bachar, who received an offer for a long-term contract, made it clear from the first moment that he was signing for one season and only if he recorded success, would he continue.

Today he can complete the task, close the circle and be the first to bring a championship to the Greens since retiring from active play.

"There is no doubt that if it was possible to write a Hollywood script, this is what it would have looked like," says a Maccabi Haifa source. "We did not know that Barak retired the day after our last championship, not sure he remembers, but there is no doubt that it is karma that ends today. More work and most of all, Barak emphasizes that it is not over until it is over and that today we have to work hard and it is impossible to celebrate even one moment before. "

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