M: -.
H: Giovanni Rosso (40).

GOAL PASSES: 	M: NONE;
             	H: Siad Halilovic (40).


M:  Alexander Uvarov       5      H:  Avi Perets           5.5
    ------------------------          ------------------------
    Amir Shelakh           5          Gadi Hazut             6
    Gadi Brumer            5          Alexander Solov        6
    Alon Brumer            5          Sharon Bukhnik         6
    Guy Nakhman            5          Shimon Biton           6
    ------------------------          ------------------------
    Noam Shoham          5.5          Stav Elimelekh         7
    Nir Klinger          4.5          Dudu Heffer            6
    Offer Mizrahi        4.5          Liron Basis          5.5
    Avi Nimni            4.5          (Oren Sagron, 67)
    Haim Hageage         4.5          Siad Halilovic       6.5
    (Guy Tsarfati, 82)                (Ilan Vaaknin, 78)
    ------------------------          Giovanni Rosso         7
    Eli Driks            4.5          ------------------------
    (Domagio Kosic, 61 - 4.5)         Shai Holtzman        5.5
                                      (Sharon Avitan, 71)


THE BEST OF THE GAME:  Giovanni Rosso, midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.

CORNERS:  Maccabee Tel-Aviv  2, Hapoel Beer-Sheva  3.

THE REFEREE: Amit Klein.      HIS MARK:  9.

YELLOW CARDS:  M - Guy Nakhman, Nir Klinger, Offer Mizrahi;
               H - Shimon Biton, Avi Perets, Giovanni Rosso.

NO RED CARDS.

When it became clear to Maccabee Tel-Aviv they wouldn't get a European Cup berth through the League, the team lost 5 consecutive games in a row. "Never mind", said the fans and the people close to the Club, "we're going to play in Europe, and therefore we need all the forces preserved for the Cup final". However, it turned out that if you fail in the League games, a quick switch to the Cup games won't improve your corrupt skill. For the first time in the last 10 years, Maccabee Tel-Aviv lost a game to Hapoel Beer-Sheva, and what a crucial loss it was!

Alexander Uvarov was yesterday probably the most miserable person on the field during the 2nd half of the game. A winner in blood, not guilty in an incredible goal he conceded, he couldn't influence the game with his personality and skill anymore, as Maccabee had to run against the clock, trying to score an equalizer. However, yesterday it was a mission more impossible than the one of Tom Cruise. Nir Klinger, Eli Driks, Avi Nimni, Haim Hageage, Domagio Kosic and especially Offer Mizrahi were just the shadows of themselves, deserving just whistles and shouts of shame and nothing more. On the other hand, Beer-Sheva presented a reliable and secure defence, a wonderful skill of the midline always ready for the quick and painful (for Maccabee) counterattacks, and above all - Stav Elimelekh and the two best Israeli foreigners, Giovanni Rosso and Siad Halilovic. Halilovic, playing half-injured, added a lot to Beer-Sheva with his personality, his leadership ands his skill; and as for Rosso, he scored a winner to be remembered for years. In a certain way, it's a pity that the game was no League game - otherwise, the competition for "The Goal Of The Season" award would've been extended. The man who scored the first Cup goal of Beer-Sheva this season, scored also the last one.

This happened after 40 minutes of play. A corner kick from the right wing was performed by Siad Halilovic, and Giovanni Rosso threw himself into the air with a perfect scissors kick to be shot. The ball went into Uvarov's post and in, and the keeper could do nothing to deny this superb effort. The stadium roared in ecstasy, at least Hapoel Beer-Sheva supporters and the "neutral" fans; Maccabee Tel-Aviv's fans couldn't feel the joy or the admiration, as they already felt the end of their dreams approaching.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen the game, but I can say relying on the newspaper and the evidences - the outstanding goal of Rosso saved in its beauty one of the most boring games of this season. When talking about all the "great" moments, I won't need more than several lines. After 9 minutes of play, Uvarov stopped greatly the penetration of Liron Basis, and the referee Amit Klein (wonderful) marked to continue playing as no foul had been performed. After all, Beer-Sheva was very hesitant during the first 30 minutes, but Maccabee was too awful to use this fact for its own benefit; out of its opportunities then, we can mark just a great free kick of Gadi Brumer from 30 meter that kissed the bar of Avi Perets and went out. And after the break, Shimon Biton (65) headed the ball powerfully to Uvarov's hands, and just before the final whistle, Oren Sagron missed in a one-to-one situation. Still, the best opportunity was on the other side, of Offer Mizrahi (89) - Beer-Sheva's defence made its one and only mistake throughout the match, but Mizrahi "succeeded" to head the ball and to miss the frame from the most wonderful situation. But to be objective - a justice was made; had Maccabee equalized and won the Cup later on, it would've been sportively unfair. Beer-Sheva of this year just deserved the Cup more than Maccabee Tel-Aviv; and finally, they got it. The first ever Cup of Hapoel Beer-Sheva, to color the Negev desert in Red.

THE BEST CUP SCORERS:
        Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem)            7
        Avi Nimni (Maccabee Tel-Aviv)           5(3)
        Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv)     5(3)

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