Loves tattoos and piercings.
Jacob Ajuval/courtesy of the photographer
"For one of the training sessions in my first season, I had no way to get to Petah Tikva. My friend suggested that I take his horse, tie it to the fence in the field and also return riding the horse. I rode to the field, the horse was tied to the fence and I entered the assembly. At the end of the assembly, trainer Moshe Meiri sees a horse On the field, he asked whose beautiful horse belonged to him, they told him it was Ajouval's. I confirmed to him that indeed, I came with him. All the players were around us. Meiri said, 'For the first time I see a donkey riding a horse.'"
Ajouval at Maccabi Petah Tikva, 1992/Maariv, Adi Avishi
Yaakov Ajuval was born in Israel on July 3, 1964. "My parents are from Izmir, Turkey, in the family we are three sons and a daughter, I am the youngest. The late mother Esther was from a respectable and wealthy family in Izmir, the late father Aharon came from a poor family, my mother's parents refused to confirm the marriage. Mother tried to commit suicide and they saved her, she fled to Israel and waited for father to immigrate as well. They got married and we lived in the passage of Gani Tikva. I was enrolled in the 'Revivim' elementary school, but I didn't like sitting in class and trying to learn, I had problems with attention and concentration and memory In the short term. I saw the open spaces of the neighborhood as my real school."
Gani Tikva had a good team in the second league.
"True, but without a department for children and boys, only youth and adults. The neighborhood was then surrounded by sands and paths, with one single road. On these sand courts I was the star, a large area and lots of games with the children of the other neighborhoods, mainly Ket Legel."
His mother, he says, used to go to a famous Arab fortune teller in Jaffa.
"When she returned, everyone gathered around her and she told what had happened. This time the topic was about me, she said that 'your little boy, Jacob, will be famous, they will write about him in the newspapers, he will fly to many countries, if he comes to me I will know more about him'. Everyone in the family burst out laughing, But my mother used to always defend me by saying 'Dasha Lu', leave him. I refused to go to Jaffa for a meeting. My first flight was with the youth team to Costa Rica, with stops in the Netherlands, Curacao and Panama."
Who did you like as a child?
"I loved Hapoel Yehud, we had a family there, I visited there and fell in love with it. I'm always in favor of the underdog, I don't like the rich giants."
He began in Judah.
"In the 1974/5 season, Hapoel Yehud was promoted from League A South to the top league. I was 11 years old and we rode six kids in pairs on bicycles to the boys' training, a few days before the start of the season. The coach did not treat me and my friends at all, a boy in the team who knew me told him to keep me in training Because I'm a really good player. The first team was leading 0:2 and only fifteen minutes before the end he put me and my friends on the field. I scored a nice hat trick, we beat the first team 2:3. The coach, a guy named Peretz, left me on the field, he let my friends go home He took me for medical tests, on Saturday morning I was already in the starting lineup for the boys."
At the age of 14, he played as a striker in Yehud's youth team.
"I came to training on horseback. I hardly ate meals at home, I would walk around the streets. And all around there were orchards, I ate oranges and pomelo. I hardly remember my childhood with my father, father worked in Sinai, flew there on Sunday and returned towards the end of the week, he didn't Was significant for me, I only think about mom every day.
More in Walla!
How do you turn a plastic package into a flower pot?
In cooperation with the Tamir Recycling Corporation
Celebrating in the 80s/Maariv, Adi Avishi
At the age of 15 and a half, Zeev Seltzer saw him as a youth.
"He called me to do a training session with the seniors, which turned into two training sessions a week. I was crazy to be on the grass with Yehud's stars. I told the neighborhood that I was training with Aryeh Habib, it was hard to believe me."
Seltzer left, Zvi Rosen arrived.
"I was in excellent playing shape. There was a training match between the youth and the seniors, the youth lost 6:3, but my hat trick was tremendous for the youth. I officially went up to the seniors after the youth coach was promised that I would play there."
One game he never forgets.
"It was a training match in Ramla. Rozen had an argument with Shlomo Habib, a huge striker whom I loved and adored like crazy. I was invited to the senior game and Rozen promised that I would play, I couldn't sleep all night. Before the end of the first half, Haviv made a hand gesture of cancellation to Rozen for saying to him, Rosen kicked him out of the game and I went in, scored the winning goal and Rosen told me that I was invited to the squad on Saturday. I didn't want to be a threat to Habib, but it was explained to me that it had nothing to do with the fact that I was in the seniors, just my ability."
Tell about the game against Maccabi Jaffa.
"The 1980/81 season, Maccabi Jaffa was fighting for the championship. I told my mother to turn on the radio to 'Shirim and Sha'ir', I told her that Danny Devorin or Moti Habib would mention my name. I reminded her of the saying of the fortune teller from Jaffa. We trailed in the opening 1:0 , then Rosen called me. I was completely shocked, Amir Lieberman and Kish Romano were playing for Yehud. I asked what to play and Rosen said 'Up, whatever you want.' :2. At the end I passed out, they woke me up with slaps, they didn't understand what happened to me."
In front of Moshe Eisenberg of Hapoel Tel Aviv, 1990s/Maariv, Adi Avishi
Moshe Meiri turned him from striker to defender of the youth team.
"I would walk to his house in Petah Tikva and ride with him in the car to the team's training sessions, where I was a striker. One day he told me that there would be purges from the squad, in the attack there were Ohana, Rosenthal, Yigal Menachem, Eitan Shalom and more, I was supposed to be purged, but 'because of your A good player, another player will be released, you will be my first right back, who does defense and attack from the back, your fitness is suitable'. I became the defender of the youth team."
Avi Cohen returned from Liverpool to Maccabi Tel Aviv and did not plan on the "party" they held in his honor in Yehud.
"There was a huge media celebration in Yehud, everyone came to watch Maccabi Tel Aviv and Avi Cohen. Yehud was supposed to be a setting. I came to the game on foot, we gave a perfect performance, we won an amazing 0:4. Before the game Rosen asked us to win, because this is the most important game for him. After the game we celebrated at a restaurant in Yehud. I waited for the fans to disperse and the celebration to end, I started going to Gani Tikva."
Then a car pulls up next to you.
"A car stopped in Sabion, the driver was the journalist Meir Rifman from Maariv who asked why I was walking. I didn't know Rifman was a journalist. He offered and took me home in his car, I told him about my arrivals on foot or on a horse for training and games. '".
Advertising helped.
"The Yehud management arranged driving lessons for me, I later got a second hand car from them."
Then came the trophy.
"In the quarterfinals of the State Cup we played against Maccabi Haifa in Kiryat Eliezer, a huge day for the goalkeeper Habib, he arranged a draw for us and a rematch with us in Yehud. The brakeman Wizen was yellowed and I was placed in his place in the position. Habib told me that he wanted me in front of him, that I would play with confidence and he would direct me. In the 75th minute Keren Lihud, I was told to go up to attack but I refused, only an order from the captain Issa Sasson brought me up. Moshe Shabat raised a corner, the ball fell to me, Shalom Rukban moved Haifa's brakes with his hands, I kicked in. I didn't know where I was It was found. Later, Wizen returned, I saw the final from the bench. We won 0:1."
Advertising helped.
Meir Rifman.
After the military service, the Jewish chapter also ended.
"In the 1983/84 season, Hapoel Yehud dropped from last place to the national league, the downfall of the club began. Meiri coached Maccabi Petah Tikva, he was looking for a defender and brought me to his team. I didn't know Maccabi Petah Tikva, but the names like Beglavter, Noriel, Rabinzon, Mekans and others I was excited. I was also promised a higher salary than in Yehud.
"My start at Maccabi Petah Tikva was not good, really weak.
Talk started behind our backs that there are five young people better than me in our youth group.
Mairi was patient with me, talked and encouraged me, I had to prove that I was a worthy acquisition."
Then came the game in Wassermil. "Against Shalom Avitan's Beer Sheva.
My legs didn't move, I was extremely weak.
Meiri felt 'how did I bring such a player, he behaves as crooked as the number 8, I brought a plane that turned into a piper'.
Near the end of the half, Avitan passed the goalkeeper and kicked towards the net, I made a long glitch and with a shot I saved a safe goal, while colliding with the crossbar.
Meiri kept me in the lineup, we did 1:1 there, that was my professional change."
brought the end of the career.
Tal Benin/Maariv, Moti Kimchi
But then came the car accident.
"Maccabi Petah Tikva held a treatment day at a hotel in Herzliya and gathered. I hurried to get there, there were two other girls in the car. It was very dark, at a crosswalk I hit a girl who was crossing. She flew into the windshield, and onto the road, I stopped and picked her up, she had scratches and torn clothes. I was Shocked, I took her to Hasharon Hospital, but she refused and asked me to take her home. I arrived very late in Herzliya and told about the injury to the girl. Everyone told me I was crazy and would go to jail for leaving the place with the car. They told me to go to the girl's parents' house to talk to them and go to the hospital for tests Hers. The day after I took her to the hospital, where she was examined and released safely home."
Here the story gets much more spicy.
"I studied guitar for a certain period with a well-known teacher in Petah Tikva, I had all the necessary equipment. Hagit also came to the same teacher to learn guitar, the teacher advised her to go to a guy who had the equipment. She asked what the guy's name was, was amazed and replied 'He ran over me Hagit came to me, I helped her and an affair began that led to a wedding."
It didn't last.
"I wasn't built to get married and start a family, I had many rehearsals, and Hagit was very young. I don't live a normal life for everyone, I don't like being told what to do. This is the worst part of the marriage that led to separation and divorce."
His apartment was taken care of by none other than Avi Luzon.
"He called me and said, 'Come, I'll fix you up in life. Sign a three-year contract for an apartment that I'll pay for. Through an apartment broker, Ohad Maccabi Petah Tikva, we closed on an apartment on Mintz Street that costs $64,000. Luzon heard about the agreement and told me that I would not live in a place on The face. He canceled the agreement and sent me to choose another apartment. I chose an apartment on Savion Street for $100,000, the move was signed and closed."
Take care of everything you need.
Luzon/Barney Ardov
Luzon took great care of you.
"He arranged for me to live in a municipality apartment for 45 shekels a month. The apartment he bought for me was rented and the payment was transferred to the purchase of the apartment. He arranged for me to work in the Petah Tikva municipality for 1,600 shekels at first so that I wouldn't walk around at night and mourn. I reached the position of regional manager, retired with a respectable pension four years ago years. He arranged free lunches for me at the Rubenenko restaurant."
Still, you went out to have fun.
"Maccabi Petah Tikva under coach Leon Konstantinovski went to Hami Tiberias, treatments and training. We got one day off and went to a night club. I met a waitress there and stayed with her in her room, I did not return to the team's hotel. In the morning I called a member of the team who said that there was a big mess, they were looking for me like crazy I quickly ordered a taxi, the girl insisted on joining me, everyone was waiting for me at the entrance. We did a hard workout, at the end the coach made it clear to me that I was left alone for another workout with the fitness trainer. I was going to leave home, the players took me back, I did a fitness workout with tears, I fell out of control, I went to sleep and woke up only the next day."
And what was the story with Assi Ben Shimon?
"During one of the training sessions, Assi, Ran's brother, passed a ball between my legs in an artistic way. All the players laughed, and some of them said to me, 'How does a boy from the youth slide the ball between your legs'? Later in the training, Assi dribbled next to me, I jumped on him wildly with both legs and went straight down to the room The dressing room, I knew my story was over. The players' journey to me began, they asked me to apologize because they wanted me for the game on Saturday against Hapoel Jerusalem. I told them that everyone calls me 'kamikaze', crazy, get along without me. Luzon and the management intervened, I came back and we beat Jerusalem 0:3 with my goal".
And there was also a story with a torn ear.
"Maccabi Petah Tikva played against Beitar Jerusalem which was fighting for the championship.
I asked to keep Eli Ohana, whom I knew from the youth team.
I was excellent, it was impossible to pass me, the local crowd cursed me non-stop.
In the second half, during a corner for Jerusalem, I was surrounded by five Beitar players. I fell on the grass and the foot of a Jerusalem player crushed my head, a lot of blood and my ear was torn off, I was left on the brakes. I was taken to a local Magan David and the doctor called the police because the fans were still in a frenzy. The police took me to the hospital where they sewed up and saved the ear."
Tal Benin ended his career.
"After nine years at Maccabi Petah Tikva, I was seriously injured in a game against Hapoel Haifa. A ball entered the box and I wanted to keep it away with a half-fly. Benin came from behind and gave me a crushing kick in the knee. The ligaments were torn, everything went. My father and Amos Luzon took me to the training camp of Maccabi Petah Tikva in the Netherlands And from there twice to Doctor Martens in Belgium, the first surgery lasted 9 hours. My active football story is over and done with, sad and painful."
Having trouble staying in one place.
Ben Ajuval/Maor Alxalsi
He wrote a book called 'Street Cat': "I said that I want my mother Esther to be taken down from the sky for just one hour") and these days he is writing another book 'About a girl who is a famous personality, the story of her way of life.'"
And his life, among other things, They are tattoos. "I like to decorate myself, there are earrings on my back and in both ears.
Lots of tattoos on the body and arms of soccer, bicycles, musical notes, a bird, the earth divided for peace and feathers of an Indian leader.
From my childhood I loved the Indians who fought with a bow and arrow against the conquerors of their land.
I am always for the weak, against those who pursue them."
His son Ben followed in his footsteps. "Today Ben plays for the Tart team in Thailand.
Like me, Ben had problems with attention and concentration, a good and introverted boy who wanted to be part of society.
He was a talent in football and like football saved me, I wanted through football to save Ben.
I was his coach for three years at Maccabi Petah Tikva, and from there I transferred him to Maccabi Tel Aviv under coach Ziv Aryeh.
When he left, another coach arrived, who had strikers like Omar Azili and he hardly let Ben play.
I talked to him and he promised to give an answer in ten days.
His answer was that he is the coach and he decides.
I told him there was a song by Ehud Banai, 'Your time has passed'.
I contacted the professional manager of Maccabi Nir Levin, who, because of his acquaintance with me, allowed Ben to move to Maccabi Haifa and from there to Kfar Saba and the teams in the Premier League.
Ben is a football talent who has gone through too many teams in his career, he has the mental difficulty of staying in a team for more than a season.
I believe he has matured, knows how to get out of stressful situations and will now succeed in Thailand.
I believe in my son."
More on the same topic:
Maccabi Petah Tikva