Maccabi Haifa will play an away game against Maccabi Netanya tomorrow (Monday), with a win securing a third consecutive championship. At the same time, the Greens will be missing defender Daniel Sundgren and midfielder Omar Atzili due to accumulating yellow cards, joined over the weekend by defender Abdoulaye Sek, midfielder Ali Mohammed and striker Mavis Chibota, who were banned by the IFA tribunal following the violence at the end of the match against Hapoel Be'Sheva.
"That's what the court ruled and we accept it," coach Barak Behar said Sunday morning, adding: "You don't have to agree with everything, but it works. Once they have determined what they have determined, we have to put it aside and deal mainly and this is tomorrow's game, that if we win it we are champions." Behar added: "Netanya is an excellent team but there are no excuses. Even if the squad is missing, there are players who are good enough, certainly in a game like this where you know that if you win you are a champion. You have to come at the peak of your strength, very focused and concentrated, and make a final effort."
On the difficulty facing Netanya this season, Behar said: "There were games we succeeded against and there were less, even in Netanya we won the league this year. Obviously it's a pressing and aggressive team that attacks with a lot of players and it's very challenging to play against, but in a game like this, when you know you need more points, you have to show that on the pitch. To rise like we did in the last game against Maccabi Tel Aviv, despite the good team and the lag, everyone understood in the stadium that the team that wanted the more points would win and that's what we did. We wanted more. And that's what needs to be done tomorrow."
Bachar with his assistant Guy Sarfati, photo: Alan Shaver
On the pressure at the club, Behar said: "Precisely when we have tension and pressure we know how to function better and therefore this is how we have to go up tomorrow and treat the game as a game that has no turning back and not think that there is another game to fix but a game that needs to come and win and take the championship."
Midfielder Dolev Haziza added about the championship fight: "It's been going on like this all the time, it's been a third year, it's always like that until the end, so I guess we have to work harder than other people. Like Burke said, it doesn't matter who plays and who doesn't. In a game like this, it's not that important whether I'm playing or another player playing. It's a game that can ultimately decide what we've worked really hard for. With all the surrounding and the pressure and the expectations, you have to come tomorrow with madness and peak energy to win the game. It doesn't matter which way, beautiful or not. Obviously we always want to play our football but you have to go crazy to win and finish the story." The midfielder added: "Everyone understands that this is a game that can crown us as champions, so everyone has to come crazy and if not then there is always one or two players who turn everyone on with madness and energy. Tomorrow I will come and give my all. No matter what happens, I'll always run crazy and give my two hundred percent and try to turn all my friends on."
Haziza referred to the court's bans mainly against Abdoulaye Seq, who was snarled and responded with a triple finger, saying: "There is no reason why in our country foreign players should come here and be subjected to growls or racist curses. In my opinion there is no place for it, it looks bad from the side and it hurt to hear and see Sec after that. After that he spoke in the dressing room and wanted us to translate for him what the fans said to him on the pitch, so Mavis translated for him. It's very sad for me, but in the end the punishments are what they should be and that's what they got. As for Za'ora, I'm really hurting for him. He's just a kid. It's not like he did it a third time and should be punished like that. He's a young kid at the beginning of his career and I really hope they appeal and give him a little less games out there because I think 15 games is a lot, but what was decided was decided. Apparently, the penalties go to every player, except for Zaura."
In conclusion, Bachar and Haziza referred to Noa Kirel's performance at Eurovision with a bit of humor: "It was an amazing performance. "There was still hope that in the end there would be some kind of turnaround, but in the end Finland got the most points from home. A great performance and definitely respectable." Haziza added: "It's always fun to represent our country. Happy for her for third place, too bad not first."
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