Maccabi Haifa advanced to the Champions League

Barak Becher: "We deservedly qualified for the Champions League", Haziza: "I want a house of death"

Maccabi Haifa came back from a double deficit to 2:2 in Belgrade and qualified for the prestigious group stage, the coach admitted: "For the first time I have no words."

And also: missing the midfielder's penalty, the conversation at halftime and the scar from Maribor

Shlomo Weiss

08/24/2022

Wednesday, August 24, 2022, 12:17 AM

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Maccabi Haifa players celebrate with the fans (Section 27A of the Copyright Law)

Maccabi Haifa celebrates a third promotion in its history to the Champions League.

13 years after the last time it did so, tonight (Tuesday) the Greens came up against almost all odds: they had already fallen behind twice in Belgrade against Red Star, but in front of 55,000 delighted Serbian fans, the Israeli champions managed to come back from a double deficit, even though they still missed a penalty in 2 :0, and Israel has its first representative in the prestigious group stage since 2015/16.

Coach Barak Becher, for whom this is the first qualification for the Champions League, was emotional at the end and said: "This is the first time I have no words, I can't even express what is happening to me because of joy and excitement. It was a piece of the game, we came back from perhaps an impossible situation because we fell behind against A powerful team with a crowd that cannot be prepared for such an atmosphere. There is nothing that compares to what was here today. We played in a mature and responsible manner in the second half and finished in a sweet way - if someone deserves it in football, then everyone deserves it in our club as well as the residents of the State of Israel and our fans."

Third increase in its history.

Maccabi Haifa celebrates in Belgrade (Photo: GettyImages, Srdjan Stevanovic)

On the tie in extra time: "We stood up well tactically, but we paid for the mistakes we made. It's easiest to say, it's very difficult to describe the power of the star and its crowd, and unfortunately we made mistakes and fell, but at halftime we talked about the fact that we were going to be Maccabi Haifa and from the first second we dominated and Rightfully so."

Why Sherry didn't kick a penalty: "We have two or three kickers that we have to decide on. Dolev is also a good penalty kicker. If it was okay on my part that he kicked? Now everything is fine (laughs). We are not looking to blame, we also support the player who took responsibility in the situation This is what happens when we miss. We showed character in a lot of games this season and today it was the most noticeable, because despite being behind twice and missing a penalty, we came back like big men."

What they talked about at halftime: "We talked about the fact that we can come back and that Sondgren's goal will help us. We pressed, attacked and missed in the second half, we felt it was getting away from us because we really deserved it - but justice was done in the end."

Who does he want in the Champions League draw on Thursday evening: "There are so many strong, good and interesting teams...we want an attractive draw for the audience in Israel."

On his first promotion to the Champions League, five years after failing to make it through the playoffs with Hapoel Beer Sheva: "I had a scar from the game against Maribor and today it's ice cream."

"We told ourselves that we have to be brave and it doesn't matter if we do it in an ugly way" (Photo: GettyImages, Srdjan Stevanovic)

Dolev Haziza, who missed the penalty in the first half, added: "We had a very difficult road, we faced difficult teams and today we played against a team with a crazy crowd. I told Omar (Azil) before the game that he would come off the bench and be responsible for the last goal, so I am very happy for him because He went through a difficult period and in the end he was the one who brought us up. I've been working hard since the beginning of the year and I really wanted to reach the Champions League, I didn't sleep well at night, I dreamed about it like crazy and for me reaching the group stage is not a dream that even came true - even in my dreams it didn't make sense to me that I will play in the Champions League. I believed in myself even when I played in the national team, the family supports me and I want to congratulate my wife and thank the whole team for a wonderful preparatory work. It's a madhouse here and the grass is also hard, it's crazy."

On the atmosphere on the field: "We couldn't hear ourselves, my voice was gone, but sometimes even looking into each other's eyes is enough. We knew we would go up and no matter what. In the second half we were much better after the pressure from the start of the game was reduced - maybe the pressure caused us to lose our That, but Barak sorted us out at halftime and we knew that playing football is what brought us here and will also take us to the next level. We told ourselves that we have to be brave and it doesn't matter if we do it in an ugly way, we have to go up a level and I think we deserve it."

At the end, Haziza said: "I want a house of death, to accept Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool and Dortmund maybe. I want Messi and Neymar to return to Israel."

Defender

, the one who scored the first and most expensive goal: "It's a dream come true. It's true that I had mistakes in the game, but everyone makes mistakes, I also scored a goal with a lot of luck and most importantly we got to the Champions League. We want to meet the biggest teams out there. It doesn't matter if it's Barcelona or Every other team. Now we just want to celebrate, already tonight we will celebrate because we have fulfilled a dream."

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• Maccabi Haifa

• Barak Bacher