"I did not have members in Maccabi Tel Aviv during the double season"

The relationship with Nemanji ("Some people saw what was happening and did nothing"), the move to throw Kashtan ("I did not understand how they brought Grant, where the crash began") and the move to Betar ("Eli Cohen did not want me"). Just before the meeting Tonight in Bloomfield, Itzik Zohar provided an interview for the Pantheon on the "Zion 3" podcast

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sport

07/03/2022

Monday, 07 March 2022, 14:31 Updated: 14:40

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"I did not have friends in the Maccabi of the double. I do not even know if I talked to Avi Nemani or not. At that time I was number 1 for the fans, there was a competition between us and at some point the connection in the locker room also broke. Understand, his wife is from my family, , But at some point we started to split up in the locker room. I was an entity in itself, I had no friends. I would solve everything on the grass. There were things that had nothing to do with achievement. From there the Maccabi Tel Aviv crash started, from this place. Some people saw it And they did nothing. "

Just before the game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Betar Jerusalem tonight, Itzik Zohar, who starred in both teams in the 90s, was interviewed by Yonatan Nimrodi on the podcast "Zion 3" and shed quite a few insights about his tenure in both teams in the crazy decade of his career.

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Zohar spoke about the beginning of his career at Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he arrived in 1988: "It was a long time before I felt I belonged. So we did not train in Kiryat Shalom, but at the Maccabiah Stadium. The players who were there suppressed my talent, when in addition I did not have the money to go to training. Maccabi Tel Aviv wanted to sell me to Hapoel Ramat Gan. My grandmother, who raised me, did not believe, and neither did I. I could not have been such a great talent a year before. And suddenly nothing. "

Then came Abraham Grant and the team flourished with a first championship after 13 years.

"Grant came and believed in me, but I owe my career to Emanuel Ofir, the first coach in Israeli football," Zohar recalled. From Petah Tikva, I would return to Maccabi Jaffa. "

Roller coaster at Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Itzik Zohar in 1991/2 (Photo: Flash 90, Moshe Shai)

At the professional level, Zohar analyzes the double season: "Maccabi Haifa could not understand how Maccabi Tel Aviv only has Avi Nemani and Itzik Zohar as technical players, and they play with us equal to equal. They had a crazy staff."

In the Cup semi-final, Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Haifa 1: 2, the game with the famous testicular incident with Eyal Berkovich.

"One of the things he hated about was knowing what he was thinking," Zohar says. "He tried to deceive me. "To do a sperm test. I also got a red in the same game, because of Roni Levy who complained to the referee about a bottle I threw back to the crowd."

Zohar also has insights on Maccabi Haifa of 1993/4, the only team in history to finish an entire season without a loss.

"That Maccabi Haifa gives the current Maccabi Haifa 0: 4 in nine games and the tenth ends maybe in 0: 0. This is Haifa's biggest team, but not the best team. The most talented team that was here is Betar Jerusalem 1996/7 which I played for. .

More on Walla!

• To the page of 'Score 3'

Arrived for the first time and made an order, arrived for the second time and made a mess.

Grant with Giora Spiegel (Photo: Flash 90, Moshe Shai)

And back to the double season, at the end of which Abraham Grant was appointed coach.

"After the double they took the team to Costa del Sol. There I realized that Abram was going to be a coach instead of Kashtan. I did not understand how it could be, after a season like this. Then you see the management does not talk to Kashtan, I am the only one sitting with him. Nice man, after every game we would go to 206 and drink Chasers. In the end they threw him and me the managers also did not want the club because I became too big a symbol. Then came the offer from Betar Jerusalem.

"Eli Cohen did not want me in Betar, he wanted Alon Hazan.

Moshe Dadash told him, "I can not fill Teddy with Alon Hazan, I can fill him with Itzik Zohar."

In the second game of the 1996/7 season, Maccabi Tel Aviv hosted Betar Jerusalem with Zohar. It ended in a crazy 3: 3, but remember no less thanks to one move before the game - Zohar received a bouquet of flowers from Maccabi Tel Aviv and threw it to the stands of fans Betar: "It was a terrible mistake for me, but I knew that Maccabi would hate me anyway and that Betar would love me, so I threw the foreigner to them."

And who was his best coach? Here he is surprising: "Uri Melmillian is the biggest miss at Ramat Coaching in Israeli football.

He is the best coach I have ever had. "

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• Maccabi Tel Aviv in football

• Itzik Zohar

• Beitar Jerusalem