Dolev affairs: Dolev Haziza at the center of Maccabi Haifa's tremendous momentum

The moment he "snatched in the head" from Becher, the reaction to the provocations, the superiority in the locker room, the closeness to the French assistant coach, the change in dribble and the great love from the crowd: this is how Dolev Haziza became one of the champion's most significant players

Shlomo Weiss

17/01/2022

Monday, January 17, 2022, 2:00 p.m.

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Summary: Maccabi Haifa - Betar Jerusalem 0: 4 (Eighth Cup Final) (Sports 1)

On October 3, 2021, Maccabi Haifa hosted Hapoel Beer Sheva. The Greens dominated the field unchallenged for most of the minutes of the game and after a red for the visitors in the first half, the Greens seemed on the way to an easy victory. But then came the 70th minute and with it a turning point in the game, Dolev Haziza fell after Or Dadia's failure doubt and between the two a real melee began that dragged all the players and put Roni Levy's players back into the game, after already looking mentally and professionally shattered. Everyone remembers the end, and the turnaround of Beer Sheva on the way to a 1: 2 victory resonates to this day in the corridors of Kfar Galim.

Barak Bachar's face at the end of the game told it all.

The coach who saw his bench raging throughout the game as well as stimulating his players and mostly being dragged into provocations, was very nervous and in the following days all the factors felt it.

Whoever felt this perhaps most of all was a firecracker.

The coach personally remarked to the contact and made it clear to him unequivocally that it was no longer acceptable for him to lead to provocations, while the other team members also spoke in person with Haziza and "gave him a head start" in the vernacular.

The relationship was not argued, internalized the message and promised that from now on they will see a different firecracker when it comes to such matters.

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A turning point in the previous encounter.

Dolev Haziza on the grass, Omri Glazer and Or Dadia are angry (Photo: Maor Elkelsi)

His real test was not long in coming. Two months after that game against Beer Sheva, the Greens went to the derby against Hapoel Haifa and it was clear to everyone that the Reds would look for Haziza from the first moment. During the first half it was Liran Serdel who committed a serious foul on Haziza, and the crowd's eyes were fixed on No. 8 to see if Haziza internalized the message from those clarifying conversations. Indeed the player hurried to get up, walked away from the place and continued the game. "There we realized that Haziza did make a significant change," states a source at the club. "He really got a kind of reprimand from all the team members after the game against Beer Sheva, but in the derby when they tried to get him out of his mind he just did not bother with it. There were also some cases in the game against Maccabi Tel Aviv that could have challenged him, but it just did not happen."

Tonight, a whole round after that game that Haziza in particular and the team in general will want to forget, the Greens will meet Roni Levy and his trainees again for the game of the season between the leader and her deputy.

While for the previous game the Greens came with a shuffling ability, this time they are in tremendous momentum and if they are looking for one player who marks the change - Haziza definitely meets the criteria.

From the superiority in the locker room, the closeness to assistant coach Guy French, the change in dribble and the great love from the crowd: this is how Dolev Haziza became one of the most significant players for the champion.

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The fans are in love.

Dolev Haziza at the championship celebrations (Photo: Lilach Weiss)

When Haziza arrived at Maccabi Haifa in the summer of 2019, quite a few were once again angry about the signing of another unfamiliar player from a small team who would not be able to march the team to its prime. In practice, Yuval Ashkenazi seemed to be the senior signing among the duo who came from the Hatikva neighborhood, but very quickly Haziza showed sparks of magic and became one of the favorite players in the green stands. "When a firecracker comes on the field, you can feel the noise in the stands," explains one of his teammates. "Even in celebrations he is always prominent, and the truth is that it does not surprise any of us. We see in training what he does and we also see how charismatic and dominant he is in the locker room."

Indeed, Haziza not only stood out on the lawn and became one of the leaders in the locker room, or perhaps more accurately: one of the favorite and funniest players in the locker room. "In one moment, Dolev can just make everyone laugh," says one of the senior players in Haifa. "He always knows how to say the things that will make him laugh and on the other hand he also knows how to sweep the team and the players after him when necessary. "

Special contact. Dolev Haziza with a French guy (Photo: Maor Elkelsi)

If we talked about the mental ability of the connection, then the ability on the grass is what made Haziza one of the hottest players in the league and a player on the Israel national team. At the beginning of Barak Bachar's term in Haifa, the coach did not like, to say the least, the player's multiple preoccupation with the ball and his lack of purpose. Whoever took Haziza as a project was assistant coach Guy French who promised Bachar that he would give even more from the season he played under Marco Belbul.

The connection between the Frenchman and Firecracker has become particularly close and even today the connection often works with the assistant coach, especially on the last extension and delivery. In games in Europe it was possible to see how much Haziza progressed and became a player who could cope at higher levels without feelings of inferiority. "Firecracker is just a great player," a teammate compliments. "He has greatly improved the azure and that's why you see a lot more numbers. He can still finish the season with a double-double and it just shows how much he has progressed in terms of versatility, because he has always had virtuosity."

Tonight expects to test another test against the main rival for the championship title.

While the eyes will be on Ramzi Spori and Omar Azili, in Haifa they understand that Haziza knows how to break the tie in games of this kind.

"There is no doubt that Dolev can finish a game in an instant," says one of his teammates.

"After the previous game against Beer Sheva and the own goal against Maccabi Tel Aviv, none of us will be surprised if he is the man of the match tonight."

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