Friday morning, home and garden training complex.
After dozens of Betar Jerusalem fans came to cheer for the derby, there were a few left to curse and get nervous. Out of all the Betar players, only two came out to the angry and talked to them: captain Ophir Krieff and Max Grechkin.
It is difficult to find a significant ray of light this season at Betar or Hapoel Jerusalem. The two teams from the capital will meet tonight for the big derby, which can easily be defined as a derby of candidates for national
relegation. It is said that many players are escaping responsibility this season: veterans, players with experience who have gone through a lot in Israeli football.
But none of them internalized the difficult situation and took on a little more responsibility.
In contrast, Grechkin, 25, has emerged in recent months as Betar's new leader. The group's quiet leader. Since the beginning of the year, the defender has been one of the group's regular spokesmen after losses. A little unpleasant.
In between, Grechkin, who last year played half a season in the Ukrainian league, has become very connected this season to the foreign players and strengthens them in the difficult moments.
He also voluntarily makes conversations with the other players.
In the half against Maccabi Haifa, something happened that made Betar realize that a new leader had been born for them. Grechkin went down to the locker room as he was boiling with designers and said to his friends, among other things: "We are Betar. Who are they to walk in front of us?"
"Max became the man of Yossi Mizrahi and Gal Cohen, to be a leader. He is the most winner in the world," describes a source in the team. Born and all his life played in Betar.
Meanwhile, striker Richmond Boachi, who was due to fly to the African Championship, eventually stayed in the country due to bureaucratic problems and is due to be on the squad tonight.
Nearly 8,000 fans secured their place tonight in the Teddy Derby.
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