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| Previous, Week 29 | Main Page | Soccer Page | 1996-97, History | Season, Summary |
27 goals (the peak of this season in its final week), 1 red card, 3 penalties shot and just 2 scored - this was the harvest of this season's last week to leave us with the taste of more. Nothing crucial was left to be decided by this week, and therefore we were able to see some extremely enjoyable games without any pressure put on any side (in Tel-Aviv, Kefar-Saba and Beit-Shean, for example). On the other hand, the atmosphere of the end of the season was sometimes an obstacle on the teams' way to play an enjoyable soccer (in Holon, Petakh-Tikwa and Haifa, for example).
Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Beit-Shean closed their goal harvest still in the 1st half, with a 3:2 victory to the fresh Champions away. Hapoel Beer-Sheva, suffering from the justified red card shown to its excellent defender Alexander Solov, still managed to defeat away the awful Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, and on the other hand, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa was devastated away by the recovering Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 2:6! Nissim Avitan, the forward of Hapoel Tel-Aviv, scored 4 goals in this game (!) and is our "Player Of The Week"; still, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa managed to hold the 2nd place, due to one goal in the goal difference over Hapoel Beer-Sheva. Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa and Maccabee Tel-Aviv finished with a very disappointing nil draw; however, the hosts achieved their goals formulated before the start of the season, and on the contrary, Maccabee Tel-Aviv won't even participate in the Intertoto Cup. This dubious honour goes to Maccabee Haifa, defeating Hapoel Kefar-Saba away 5:1 after being down before the break. Hapoel Rishon le-Zion defeated Bnei-Yehuda at home, 2:1, catching the 9th place for the 3rd consecutive season (!); Alon Mizrahi scored there another penalty, but couldn't catch with Moti Kakun, "The Best Scorer Of 1996-97". And finally, the 1:1 draws were registered between Hapoel Haifa and Maccabee Herzliya, and between Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Taibe; there, the National keepers Rafi Cohen (Israel) and Akakiy Devadze (Georgia) proved their skills one more time. And now - the details.
Being watched by the representatives of Anderlecht, Ronen Harazi was very eager to score in Beit-Shean, and he did it twice, earning the applauses and our "Best Of The Game" award. Nir Sevilla opened the score for Beitar with a great sharp shot from 16 meters (7) to the right corner of Meir Cohen (weak); Meir Melika equalized after another 13 minutes. Just 4 minutes have passed since the equalizer, and Ronen Harazi used the precise pass of Itzhak Zohar and a terrible hesitance of Meir Cohen to overjump the keeper and to push the ball in with a weak header over the keeper's stretched hands; unlike in case of Maradona's goal 11 years ago vs England, no question of handplay arose here. Just before the break, the teams exchanged the goals - Harazi rolled the rebound into an empty net after Cohen had parried badly the far-ranger of Talesnikov (44), and in a confusion following in a minute in Beitar's box, a combination of Shnorman - Culakovic - Mararo made the latter's shot penetrate the net. 3:2. In the 2nd half, 2 goals were rightly disallowed, one of Shnorman (56) and one of Sevilla (61); besides, the two keepers were substituted, Itzhak Korenfein with Shlomi Maman, the former 2nd keeper of Beit-Shean (46), and Meir Cohen with Nail Akla (72). And as for Harazi, he heads now to Spain - if Salamanca advances there to the First League, he'll sign there.
The participation of the 2nd keepers was a well-noticed feature of the last week, and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa suffered greatly from the bad examination of Yaniv Nakhum. The young keeper made several good saves and could do nothing to stop the opening bomb of Alon Hazan from 17 meters (27); however, then it was the turn of Nissim Avitan to score 4 goals in 15 minutes (just compare - beforehand, he had scored just 2 goals during the whole season!), and Nakhum was to blame for several. A bad timing in closing his near corner (29) and an awful slipping not to reach the simple header (37) let Avitan start with his impressive crop, while in between Manor Hassan (32) reduced the score with a good shot under the bar of Shavit Elimelekh from 15 meters. Another header of Avitan (43) and his flying shot after a double-pass with Alon Hazan (44) left no doubt at all about the winning squad. 14 minutes after the break, a great pass of Sergei Pogodin left Yossi Madar alone in his penetration, and the latter rolled the ball coolly past the keeper, 6:1. Moti Kakun reduced the humiliating score from the penalty spot, consoling himself with "The Best Scorer Of 1996-97" title; this time, it was to the net of Cobi Shallo who had substituted Shavit Elimelekh during the break.
In Holon, Maayan Mashiakh registered quite a good game to frustrate the players of Hapoel Beer-Sheva time after time; however, Liron Basis passed him and scored the winner after a magnificent pass of Alon Riff into a dubious offside. Beer-Sheva suffered from an awful behaviour of its usually correct defender Alexander Solov, sent off 2 minutes before the break for kicking Oren Nissim without the ball; and still, Beer-Sheva could even enlarge the score against the soccer misery Holon of this year presents. Had Beer-Sheva scored 2 more goals, it would've caught the 2nd place, something that seemed totally impossible a week ago; however, both Petakh-Tikwa and Beer-Sheva had no pressure on them after Beer-Sheva's victory over Maccabee Tel-Aviv in the Cup final.
Apropos, Maccabee Tel-Aviv - yesterday it was the team's last chance to gain any European place, but it was wasted as all the rest of chances during this season. Probably, Maccabee Tel-Aviv didn't even want to participate in the Intertoto Cup; otherwise, how can you explain the fact it was playing without Uvarov, Shelakh, Gadi Brumer, Shoham, Nimni and Driks? The away game of the former Double holders against Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa ended with an upsetting 0:0 draw. Both teams had just one opportunity - Alen Mashraki flew in a spectacular way to parry the dangerous shot of Offer Shitrit, and on the other hand, Golan Malul dived well to deny Claudio Vorkovic.
An interesting fact should be mentioned - Malul saved a lot of headache and troubles to the Israeli Football Association heads. Had Vorkovic scored, both Maccabee Tel-Aviv and Maccabee Haifa would've finished the season with the record of 48 pts, 48-34, and a personal balance of 2 games ended with 1:1! Indeed, Maccabee Tel-Aviv would've had one victory more then, and it would've probably played in its favour. However, now those are just "ifs".
In Kefar-Saba, Washington de Santos scored after just 9 minutes of play into the net of Bonnie Ginzburg, and then Kefar-Saba totally lost the initiative. Maccabee Haifa started putting an awful pressure over the hosts, just to see Eran Scheinsinger in the best half-time performance ever registered by any keeper this season in Israel. Stopping the header of Shirazi, the shots of Kandaurov, Bransi and Benado, and reaching his peak in denying Shirazi and Bransi in a magnificent double save, Scheinsinger was simply unpenetratable in the 1st half; however, after the break even he couldn't help. 2 minutes in the 2nd half, Shirazi finally exploited the goal pass of Sergei Kandaurov to beat Scheinsinger in one-to-one, 1:1. Shirazi scored another goal in 8 minutes, and in another 5 minutes, he used an awful mistake of Tamir Netser to kidnap the ball inside the box and to beat the helpless keeper. In another 3 minutes, Rajid Bransi scored the 4th goal after another pass of Kandaurov. Finally, just one minute from time, Reuven Attar gave the ball to another promising youngster, Heiman Halaila; Scheinsinger managed to stop him at one-to-one, but Halaila was insistent enough to grab the ball through the fence of Scheinsinger's hands and to roll it into an empty net, 5:1. Still, the ironic point is that the passing season was very disappointing for Maccabee Haifa and very cheerful for Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
Another disappointing team of Haifa, Hapoel, may be consoled just with the fact of entering the history - the equalizing goal of Alon Caplan was the last of the passing season... In a bad game between Hapoel Haifa and Maccabee Herzliya, the man to catch the eye was again the National keeper Rafi Cohen, "The Man Of The Game" for the 3rd consecutive week; however, even he could do nothing against the shot of Tomer Azulai after a terrible confusion in the hosts' box, 14 minutes from the break. However, just 3 minutes have passed, and the youngster Alon Caplan equalized with a precise flat shot to the left post of Yehuda Boaron and in. Herzliya sank to the 14th place (not that it mattered too much), letting Hapoel Tel-Aviv pass it; on the other hand, Haifa based itself on the 7th place, also not a bright one.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion and Bnei-Yehuda met in the game of honor, fighting for the 9th place; Rishon won and caught this place for the 3rd consecutive season in what became really quite a tradition... Offir Haim opened the score after just 13 minutes of play, and in another 9 minutes, Sharon Martsiano elegantly threw the ball over Liran Strauber from a clear offside, a mistake of the referee Shmuel Steiff. 7 minutes before the break, the same Martsiano used his hand to stop the ball inside the box; a penalty kick was awarded, and Alon Mizrahi scored his 18th goal and 9th penalty (out of 11) this season. Bnei-Yehuda could've equalized in the 2nd half, but Yaniv Mizrahi played well.
And finally, it was the game between the newcomers to the League, Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Taibe; if the hosts registered the season exceeding all the possible expectations, the guests registered one of the most disappointing seasons ever in the history of the National League, relegating rightly. However, yesterday the game was open and quite enjoyable. In the very first attack of Taibe, Shadi Abu-Dib was knocked down inside the box by Arik Sason; Billal Sarsur shot the penalty kick quite well, but Ishai Ben-Harush threw himself into a superb flight and parried the ball from his right corner. Assaf Tubi opened the score in another 11 minutes, this time for the hosts; the shot of Salman Amar met the stretched leg of Tubi and misled Akakiy Devadze, who was perfect otherwise throughout the game, to get "The Man Of The Game" and "The Keeper Of The Week" awards. 7 minutes from the break, Valeriy Kurlianchuk scored an equalizer with a sharp shot from 17 meters.
The season is over, but on June 8th, the Israeli National Team plays against Russia in Moscow in WC'98 Preliminaries. If our guys win, the road to Paris may be open for them. Let's hope for the very best, and good luck to the boys! Happy summer to you, dear subscribers, and thank you for being a wonderful audience! And to end this last report, let me tip you with the "European" information about the Israeli players:
Hapoel Beit-Shean - BEITAR JERUSALEM 2:3 (2:3).
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Hosts: Meir Melika (20), Hanokh Mararo (45).
Guests: Nir Sevilla (7), Ronen Harazi (24, 44).
THE BEST: Ronen Harazi, forward, Beitar Jerusalem.
HAPOEL TEL-AVIV - Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 6:2 (5:1).
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Hosts: Alon Hazan (27), Nissim Avitan (29, 37, 43, 44), Yossi Madar (59).
Guests: Manor Hassan (32), Moti Kakun (66 pen).
THE BEST: Nissim Avitan, forward, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA 0:1 (0:1).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Liron Basis (31).
RED: Alexander Solov, defender, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, 43.
THE BEST: Sharon Bukhnik, defender, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa - Maccabee Tel-Aviv 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Noam Keisi, midfielder, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
Hapoel Kefar-Saba - MACCABEE HAIFA 1:5 (1:0).
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Hosts: Washington de Santos (9).
Guests: Hezi Shirazi (47, 55, 60), Rajid Bransi (63), Heiman Halaila (89).
THE BEST: Hezi Shirazi, forward, Maccabee Haifa.
Hapoel Haifa - Maccabee Herzliya 1:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: Alon Caplan (62).
Guests: Tomer Azulai (59).
THE BEST: Rafi Cohen, keeper, Hapoel Haifa.
HAPOEL RISHON LE-ZION - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 2:1 (2:1).
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Hosts: Offir Haim (13), Sharon Martsiano (23).
Guests: Alon Mizrahi (38 pen).
THE BEST: Avi Pitusi, midfielder, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
Hapoel Jerusalem - Hapoel Taibe 1:1 (1:1).
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Hosts: Assaf Tubi (12).
Guests: Valeriy Kurlianchuk (38).
THE BEST: Akakiy Devadze, keeper, Hapoel Taibe.
On the 1st minute Billal Sarsur (Hapoel Taibe) missed a penalty kick -
Ishai Ben-Harush saved.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
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Akakiy Devadze
(Hapoel Taibe)
Felix Halfon Arik Benado Sharon Bukhnik David Amsalem
(Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Maccabee Haifa) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Yossi Madar Avi Pitusi Sergei Pogodin Alon Hazan
(Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Rishon le-Zion) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv)
Nissim Avitan Hezi Shirazi
(Hapoel Tel-Aviv) (Maccabee Haifa)
Hapoel Tel-Aviv - 5.
Maccabee Haifa - 2.
Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Beer-Sheva,
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, Hapoel Taibe - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (1) Beitar Jerusalem 30 21 6 3 62-20 69 EC1
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2 (2) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 30 18 6 6 57-37 60 EC3
3 (3) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 30 19 3 8 44-25 60 EC2
4 (4) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 30 14 10 6 39-22 52
5 (6) Maccabee Haifa 30 13 9 8 48-34 48
6 (5) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 30 13 7 10 47-34 46
7 (7) Hapoel Haifa 30 12 7 11 34-33 43
8 (8) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 30 11 7 12 34-39 40
9 (10) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 30 11 7 12 35-47 40
10 (9) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 30 10 8 12 32-40 38
11 (11) Hapoel Beit-Shean 30 9 7 14 29-34 34
12 (12) Hapoel Jerusalem 30 9 7 14 30-41 34
13 (14) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 30 8 9 13 29-32 33
14 (13) Maccabee Herzliya 30 9 5 16 19-28 32
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15 (15) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 30 4 9 17 17-43 21
16 (16) Hapoel Taibe 30 4 3 23 19-66 15
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams before this week.
BEST PLAYER: Nissim Avitan, forward, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
TOP SCORERS: Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 20(5) 1(1)
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Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 18(9) 1(1)
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Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 15(3)
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Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 14(1)
Itzhak Zohar (Beitar Jerusalem) 14(3)
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Hezi Shirazi (Maccabee Haifa) 13(0) 3
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Yaniv Offri (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 12(0)
Avi Nimni (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 12(4)
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Shai Holtzman (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 11(4)
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Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 10(0)
Yaniv Avvargeal (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) 10(4)
NOTE - the penalties scored are put in brackets. The last
column means the number of goals scored this week.
NOTE: "YEDIOTH AHRONOTH" newspaper gives Moti Kakun one goal more than I do - the reason is they register a goal scored by Avi Fletcher vs Hapoel Taibe (Week 12) to Kakun, since Kakun caused the deflection of the ball. Still, I say Avi Fletcher was the scorer, and besides, this doesn't deny Kakun the award of "The Best League Scorer". Congratulations, the winner of Feyenoord!
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| Previous, Week 29 | Main Page | Soccer Page | 1996-97, History | Season, Summary |