Rafi Manko is one of the main factors in Hapoel Holon's incredible victory in the championship, and the senior and dominant Israeli in the Purples' journey towards the title, and also in the Champions League semi-finals earlier this season.
"Crazy feelings, chills all over my body," Manco tells Israel Today in a special interview after waving the plate.
"Winning the championship as a significant and leading player is a special moment I have dreamed of since I was a kid. We are happy, we deserve it after all the season we have been through."
"I'm fine in Holon", Photo: Alan Shiber
At the beginning of the season, you said that you came to Holon to win the championship and taste the taste of a degree in Israel as a key player. Did you believe that would happen?
"I definitely believed. I remember telling you that I came here to learn from Guy Pnini and get from him what it takes to win degrees. I'm so happy about this year with him, it was special to be with Guy and learn what to do to win games."
You had quite a few difficulties during the season with losses, coach changes, defeat in the cup. All this time you thought the team could turn the situation around and end the season with a title?
"What's special about this team, is what everyone brought into it. Everyone contributed theirs. No one gave us a chance, and at every stage we heard we could not do it - also in the playoff series against Besiktas, also in the top 16, also in the quarterfinals. The final, both in the playoffs against Jerusalem and against Herzliya.
"There's just a bunch of men here, and I have no words to describe the achievement we made. We're the only team that showed character throughout the season, time after time we were drawn as an underdog, and we got to a lot of games with our backs to the wall. To do great things. "
Came to learn from Pnini, Photo: Alan Schieber
How much does the painful relegation in the Final Four at Bilbao have to do with the motivation and ability you showed in the playoffs?
"We were very disappointed there because we wanted to win the Champions League and we were not far from qualifying for the final. We returned to Israel and realized that this is what we have left now and that we have a total of seven victories to be champions. "The confidence that we can go to the end. During the playoffs, a feeling was built within the team that we can beat any team on any field and at any moment."
Personally, this season, and especially the way it ended, is kind of a seal for you after a few years of moving around between teams, and here you have become an important screw in one of the three biggest teams in the country?
"Unequivocally. I must share that in the summer I had fears and did not know what to do. On the one hand I wanted to continue in Europe and had several options, but on the other hand Holon approached me and I felt it was the right move. I did not know what would happen and how things would work. A big stamp that I made the right decision and that I am in a great place and in the right way. "
What do you think is the next goal?
"I set an important and big goal for me, and now I have to mark the next goals. Right now I want to celebrate the championship and then get some rest. It was a long and not easy season."
"I've never coached such a crazy team"
Guy Goodes' speech in @HapoelHolonBC's locker room after winning the championship pic.twitter.com/Jje5Veilm7
- Winner League (@WinnerLeague) June 10, 2022
You have a contract for another season with an exit option for you and the team. Where will we see you play next season?
"I feel good here and I really enjoy Holon. We will sit down and talk soon and make decisions about the future."
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