Once in a lifetime: The bingo behind the appointment of Ofir Haim as the coach of the youth team

The appointment of Ofir Haim as the coach of the team up to the age of 19, instead of all the regular names that are constantly running in this bar, proved to be a huge success: this is how it is when the team is led by someone who knows what an underdog is.

From the light of Zechariah

09/07/2022

Saturday, 09 July 2022, 09:00

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Summary: The Israel - England youth team 3: 1 (Sports 1)

You look at the azure guys running on the field and kicking from the class they came to.

Still, this is the European Championship final, and even if it's until the age of 19 - a final is a final.

And yes, even if a young team is not a swallow that heralds a great spring that will come in a few years and march the graduate of the near future to stunning achievements - we are living the moment.

And the "moment", meaning the final against England on Saturday night a week ago - was sweet, even if it ended in a loss.

Still, rehabilitating those who did not get excited when the team took the lead, and voting for those who did not feel the “wow” even when it was all over, and 18-year-olds went upset to receive silver medals.

A piece of achievement.

But another thought crept into my heart, even in those moments but not only: how lucky was this team, which accepted Ofir Haim as coach.

After all, we know the people involved, we know who the names are and who the faces are.

We know which of them, and it is clear to all of us who is usually in charge.

The group of activists who lead Israeli football nowhere, usually and for the most part, like to appoint people of their own - past stars who may have been good on the field but in general, have no idea about managing people or coaching football.

For Ofir Haim, the situation was different.

He was not a superstar in our football, and although he made a not bad career as a striker in the first division, he could star in trivia quizzes for people born in the 80s and below.

In short, none of his players on the team (or the rest of their peers) will be able to say without Wikipedia the names of the three teams he played for, and apart from his short tenure at Hapoel Tel Aviv - no one really remembers where he coached.

Good to know (promoted)

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A very strong survival instinct.

Ofir Haim (Photo: Ginny Agency)

But exactly a year ago, someone on the Football Association's search committee was negligent in his role and appointed Ofir Haim as the team's coach.

It happened along with Gil Landau's odd appointment as coach of the women's team and a few minutes before the guys arranged for Guy Luzon - a coach who did not hurt even before they invented the ticking - the Olympic team so that one could at least breathe a sigh of relief and draw conclusions from Ofir Haim's exceptional case.

What does the Israeli national football team need - at any age - you ask?

First and foremost it will be led by someone who connects to the underdog.

A man who knew how to make his way through elbows, who did not touch the sky at any point in his career but did see others do it and understood how and why it happened to them.

Emanuel Sheffer was not a great player, apparently, but he had a very strong survival instinct, which made him one of the most successful coaches here.

He is also the only one who came with the team to the World Cup.

Schneur and Grundman may have been stars as players, and they did bring the team closest to the World Cup, but they both - as coaches - had the image of two tough uncles and a particularly tough life story.

Even Shlomo Sharaf, who knew with the team eight years before the Pantheon - left no mark as a player and bought his good name as a coach.

Israel youth team coach Ofir Haim is interviewed after the loss in the Euro final (Sport1)

Then you see a video of Ofir Haim driving the actors crazy in the locker room and most of all - you believe him.

People who do not want anything easily know how to appreciate much more what they achieve.

Just imagine Eli Ohana being squeezed in the same class, or dozens like him - that we will not know (the only one who is exceptional, by the way, is Berkowitz Eyal, but this is an issue that has already been grinded).

Back to Ofir Haim: You look at him and you understand where it came from.

When he finishes his speech in the locker room, you want to go out and rave on the pitch with full motivation - even if you saw the video three days after the game and you are at home, on the bus or during a coffee break at work.

Because in the end the story is not really football, not related to formations, not dependent on the XG index.

The story is human, it is in the inner connection of the actor - each actor - to the situation, to what is happening around him, to the one who obliges him to give the maximum for him.

If you go up to the grass when you believe you will beat France - there is no reason (up to you) not to beat France.

Even if they have longer legs and for breakfast they ate four pounds of bacon.

And this basic thing Ophir Haim - who all his career as an actor had to believe is no less good than all kinds of PR stars who provided the goods less than him, earned four times as much as him and got the place in the lineup before him - knows.

• sport

• Israeli soccer

• Israeli national teams

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