"Within 5 seconds the boy disappeared. The kidnappers left him and ran away"

The event in Paris, which is a nightmare for every parent ("If the train had started moving, the chances of finding him were hopeless"), the glorious career in Hapoel Ashkelon and the apology he sent for the first time after 25 years to his striker ended his career.

Lelo Anka, an Ashkelon sergeant, speaks

Asher Goldberg

27/10/2022

Thursday, October 27, 2022, 4:26 p.m

• Share on Facebook

• Share on WhatsApp

• Share on Twitter

• Share by email

• Share in general

• Comments

  Comments

"In the 1999/2000 season, we played in the National League. I suffered a serious injury to my knee. The doctors in Israel did their tests, but I was advised to fly to Belgium to see a doctor who specializes in knee injuries, Dr. Martens.

The heads of Hapoel Ashkelon approved a flight with an escort for me, I included my wife and my three and a half year old son Shalio on the flight.

We had 24 hours to meet Martens, we decided to take a train for a short trip to Paris, France.

When we got off the train, they explained to us how to get to the metro, and from there continue to the district we wanted.

The three of us sat down on one of the benches, and waited for the metro number assigned to us.

"I saw that the captions were not correct, I got up and told my wife who also got up to read. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that the boy was not on the bench, within 5 seconds it was as if the earth had swallowed him. There was panic, an uproar, we didn't know where the boy had gone. I quickly ran to the intelligence, they asked me for the passports Ours. They seemed to be practiced on the subject, two security men arrived quickly, at the same time they began to close all the entrances and exits from the station. I heard the two having various conversations and we joined them at the Gare de Nor train station, a station from which trains depart for all over Europe. After more than two hours that seemed like an eternity And walking inside trains, the French security personnel asked me and my wife to relax. The quail was found abandoned alone in one of the cars in a private compartment, crying but safe and sound."

The continuation of the monologue of Lelo Anka, the great symbol of Hapoel Ashkelon, is chilling.

"The boy said that a short man handed him a lollipop, and another came from behind, shut his mouth and lifted him off the bench and took him with him. The French security personnel said that the chance of finding the boy was very low and hopeless if the train had left, a chance of one per million. The kidnappers left the boy and ran away when they saw that a search had begun for them and heard the loudspeakers echoing in the station. Kidnappings like this are used to trade organs and transfer drugs. The next day we returned to Israel."

tough and persistent.

Lelo Anka (right) (Photo: Maariv, Danny Maron)

We will return to this story of Lelo Anka later.

The man who was the great symbol of Hapoel Ashkelon was born in Israel in August 1969. "Father is from Spain, mother is from Morocco, I'm a sandwich between four sons and three daughters. From Mebara C we moved to Atikit neighborhood in Ashkelon. It was difficult for us, 9 people in four rooms. "To the football in the street and in the neighborhood I was hooked like a magnet, and I had great talent.

At the age of 7, the English team Brighton visited Israel, whose players came to practice with Hapoel Ashkelon.

So it was as if Barcelona or Real Madrid would come to train in town.

I walked from the neighborhood to the soccer field, a distance of 7 km. I then signed up for the children's group of Hapoel Ashkelon. I used to make the journey every day back and forth on foot, I didn't have money to travel on buses."

He attended a religious school and an article in one of the places confused him.

"I was in the 9th grade and in a local newspaper called 'Scoop' they wrote 'a football star was born in Ashkelon'. The principal called me into his room and asked 'Elijah, do you play football on Shabbat?'

He pulled out the newspaper and showed me the colorful article. He determined and asked, football or studies at Rogozin High School? I asked for a minute to answer. I ran to the classroom, brought the bag, told the principal that I choose football, I transferred to study at another school. I decided not to be stopped Fulfilling the dream of being a successful footballer, like Danny Bokubza, whom I admired as a child."

At the age of 16 and a half, the coach Moshe Buskila told him that he was leaving the youth and was invited to a week-long training camp with the senior team in the French resort village in the city, under the legendary coach Eli Fox.

"I got there, I was excited to see my football idols in Hapoel Ashkelon. I stood hiding and was ashamed. After the first morning practice I made my way to the dining room like everyone else. Fox stood at the entrance and asked what I was doing in this place. I said that like the players I came to eat. He blurted out at me, 'You Oil, go exercise'".

Things did not go well.

Menashe Nourial (Photo: Maariv, Danny Maron)

A year has passed.

"I was 17 years old when we went to a training camp in Kfar Blum under coach Jackie Dekel, the former defender of Hapoel Beer Sheva. Hapoel Jerusalem midfielder Eli Levy transferred to a team that was in League A. For the city of Ashkelon, it's like today Eran Zahavi will arrive. After one training Levy He asked the management to take me under his wing, to make me an outstanding player. We shared one room, he taught me how a footballer behaves, how he dresses, how he trains and plays. I thirstily drank every word and carried out every instruction. I progressed and at the age of 17 and a half I made my debut in the lineup as a front brake. I remember over 5,000 spectators came to our field for the game against Hapoel Ashdod, we lost 2:0, but I had an excellent game that opened the way to a career in Hapoel Ashkelon. In the 1991/92 season, we were promoted to the National League (National Day - A.G.) ".

In 1989, when he was 20 years old, he went into quarantine.

"Moishik Meiri knew me from Hapoel Ashkelon and wanted me for the position of defender in Hapoel Petah Tikva. Ashkelon's leaders demanded 30 thousand dollars for me, just like today they would ask for 300 thousand dollars for an unknown player. I submitted a suspension form, but the team manager Ephraim Meir talked to me and convinced me to return to the team's training." .

Meiri said this week: "Anka was an excellent front stopper, I definitely worked to bring him to Petah Tikva, there is no doubt that his move to center to the top league would have made him one of the best stoppers in Israeli football, more than a big star of the city of Ashkelon."

He immediately arranged a job in the municipality.

Benny Vaknin (left) with Eyal Golan in 2009 (Photo: Aviv Khofi)

What is the difference between Ashkelon of then and the current city of Ashkelon?

"In my youth, the city was around two or three long streets, the seaside and mainly the Hapoel Ashkelon group. Today the city has 160,000 inhabitants, huge and developing towards the north, lots of new residents who came to us from Ashdod and Rishon Lezion, we are no longer far from Tel Aviv."

He testifies that since the 1950s, Ashkelon has been considered a soccer city, with thousands of fans coming to training sessions for home and away games.

"In the 1992/93 season, after the promotion to the national team, football was the main topic of conversation. We had teams in the league like Hapoel Kfar Saba, Shimshon Tel Aviv, Hapoel Ramat Gan, Hapoel Jerusalem, Maccabi Jaffa and others. We finished the season in fifth place, the talks and dreams began about Qualifying for the top league. I became a well-known and respected defender in Israeli football."

"My wife went to work every morning, I went to soccer practice and to cafes with friends. Nitza made it clear to me that tomorrow there would be no more life like this, I need to find a regular job, she told me 'You are the captain of Hapoel Ashkelon and every child knows you and adores you'. The truth is that she was right, The money didn't interest me then, only football and working in Ashkelon. The salary ranged from eight thousand to ten thousand shekels as captain and senior player. The management always came to me to sign first, they knew that if I signed, everyone would do it quickly. After the argument with Nitza I arrived at 08:00 To Ashkelon City Hall, to the office of Mayor Bani Vaknin."

Vakinin welcomed him with a hug and asked what Captain Hapoel Ashkelon was doing in the municipality at such an early hour in the morning.

"I explained that I had come to ask for a job in the municipality. He picked up the phone within a minute, sent me to the personnel department, and within two hours the football captain was wearing an inspector's clothes in the municipality of Ashkelon. I advanced in the position and later became the coordinator of the inspection department, from where I retired several years ago."

Many happy moments.

Lelo Anka (Photo: Maariv, Adi Avishi)

In the 1996/97 season, Ashkelon reached its peak - qualifying from the national place to the senior national league.

Anka then signed a contract and an apartment for the first time.

"I signed a new contract for 3 years with the chairman David Yafarah.

He concluded that I would get an apartment in his construction project, he transferred it to me after less than two years."

"A huge football season and a huge crowd that pushed us forward, under coach Menashe Nourial.

The defense conceded only 15 goals in 30 rounds.

We went up together with Ashdod City, our striker Arne Frizant scored 13 goals.

In the round of 16 of the cup we lost in Kiryat Eliezer to Maccabi Haifa 2:0".

"Noreal continued in the top league, but despite reinforcements such as the Dutch stopper John de Wolf, Ofer Mizrahi and others, everything fell apart. We had a huge victory at home against Maccabi Tel Aviv of Avraham Grant 0:1, but without continuity. In the 11th round, Noreal left And Roni Dora arrived, who did not stop the fall to the national level together with Hapoel Beer Sheva."

"Hapoel Ashkelon had a home game against Aruni Ashdod. Mesobi was their striker, he gave me a not strong blow during the game. I told him I was going to break his leg. During the game after a corner, I hit him hard in the knee, to this day he accompanies me trying to get up , but comes down with torn ligaments. I'm now asking for Masubi's forgiveness, because I haven't had the chance to tell him this personally."

And speaking of injuries, we will return to Dr. Martens and the story with which we opened.

had to retire.

Netzah Mesobi (right) during a veterans game in 2017 next to Ofer Sheetrit (Photo: Photo: Adib Sharabi)

"After the attempted kidnapping of my son, I returned to Israel, and a few days later I flew to surgery in Belgium. After the surgery on the knee ligaments, his instructions were to be absent for 8 months, to do nothing for six months, and only then to start strengthening the knee for months. I thought I was a doctor, two months later I started strengthening the knee, and three and a half months later I returned to training against the instructions. We struggled in the 1999/2000 season against relegation, I wanted to return and help the team. We played against the leader in the national team, Hapoel Zafaririm Holon, I went down to a glitch and one of their strikers dislocated my knee."

He called Belgium again and made an appointment.

"The doctor didn't understand and asked what I was doing at his clinic.

I told him, he told me I was crazy, and I should decide on immediate retirement from football, or be in a wheelchair."

He didn't really have a choice.

"I returned to Israel, Hapoel Ashkelon was relegated to the third league. In 2001 I announced my retirement from football, I was appointed to the position of CEO of the club.

They gave me a retirement event like it was not done for any player in Hapoel Ashkelon, over eight thousand fans came to a celebratory game against Beitar Jerusalem, including Barak Itzhaki who started his career with the team.

"I have four children, we have a subscription to Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball games. My favorite pastime is in the hall."

• sport

• Israeli soccer

• Super League

Tags

• Hapoel Ashkelon