18 goals, 4 penalties (none scored!), 2 red cards (in one game, to the foreign players of one team) and 1 own goal - this was the story of quite an interesting opening week of the new Israeli Championship. We've seen some promising new faces and some very improved old ones. Those were also one comeback, one devastating score, two quite big surprises, one deserved and unawarded penalty and the quickest goal of the last years.
Maccabee Haifa, showing a very dull 1st half, devastated the very successful "European" Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa in the 2nd, presenting a battery of very talented players. Hapoel Beer-Sheva defeated Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv at home, 2:0, and the most promising Israeli youngster, Yossi Benayoun, scored there to the net of the National keeper Rafi Cohen; Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, not impressing too much, still managed to defeat at home with the same score a very weak young squad of Hapoel Beit-Shean. Hapoel Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Ashkelon away, 2:1, and Hapoel Kefar-Saba with 4 Brazilian players in its line-up surprisingly defeated Maccabee Tel-Aviv, also 2:1 away. Maccabee Ironi Ashdod was the biggest shock of the week, pressing Beitar Jerusalem in the capital to a 1:1 draw, scoring the goal after just 29 seconds of play and presenting the great keeper in its net, Akakiy Devadze. Hapoel Haifa was a disappointment in a certain way, achieving just a nil home draw vs Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa; still, it can be mentioned as an achievement, as its 2 best players, Sergen Culakovic and Sinica Concalovic, were sent off early in the 2nd half. And Georgi Daraselia, the Georgian midfielder of Hapoel Tel-Aviv, making a tremendous and extremely exhausting effort to reach Israel in time, was rewarded with a fantastic opening of his Israeli career, when his charming shot in the injury time brought his team all the points away, vs Maccabee Herzliya. And now - the details.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, inspired with another of its European successes, made a very impressive start at home vs Maccabee Haifa; a tremendous pressing and a confused Haifa's defence could have made the result of the 1st half humiliating. Fortunately, Haifa had Nir Davidovich in its net with several crucial saves, like the save from the shot of Manor Hassan (16) and the one-to-one victory vs Moti Kakun (35). Kakun's goal (37) was disallowed because of an offside, but "The Best Israeli Scorer Of 1996-97" still opened the score before the break - using a great pass of Eli Abrabanel, he raised the ball over Sergei Belianchuk and bombed it past Davidovich from 7 meters. Early in the 2nd half, Yaniv Offri missed the frame from a good position, and then Kakun's shot was well taken by a diving Davidovich (61).
Maccabee Haifa was the shadow of itself during the 1st half, but the substitution of Offir Koppel with Rajid Bransi made the difference and made the 2 experienced stars, Sergei Kandaurov and Alon Mizrahi, flourish. 17 minutes in the 2nd half, Kandaurov made a far-ranged flat pass from the left wing still at his own half, Rajid Bransi opened his legs to confuse the defenders, and the ball reached Alon Mizrahi; the latter, not needing anything else, advanced to the box and rolled the ball past the helpless Shai Hess. And in another 3 minutes, the comeback was performed, as Shai Hess took the ball in his hands twice by mistake. A free kick was shot, Kandaurov tried his luck and twice was blocked by the wall, and finally the ball reached Rajid Bransi who was knocked down inside the box by Walid Badir. Nobody argued with the referee Meir Levi about the penalty awarded. Kandaurov took the shot, Shai Hess dived greatly to parry the ball to his left post, but Petakh-Tikwa's defence was too surprised to reach the rebound before Kandaurov himself, 2:1 to the guests.
Here the hosts were broken. Kandaurov made another great goal pass to Avishai Zhano who threw the ball above the keeper and rolled it to an empty net, 3:1 (83). And 2 minutes from time, Kandaurov gave another assist to Alon Mizrahi who bombed it under Hess' left crossbar. 4:1, and Haifa looks great; as for Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, the team wasn't bad, but it has to prepare itself mentally to the possible negative developments during the game and not to be broken down that easily. As a matter of fact, they really succeeded in this task while playing in Tallinn vs Flora...
Hapoel Beer-Sheva, with a new and ambitious coach Beni Tabak, lost lots of its key players during the summer - Siad Halilovic, Giovanni Rosso, Avi Perets, Gadi Hazut; Stav Elimelekh, its irreplaceable captain for the last years, was playing against his native team with Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv... Nevertheless, Beer-Sheva had Oren Sagron who made the difference, scoring with a great header after just 17 minutes of play into the net of Rafi Cohen (yes, another surprising development of this summer). Beer-Sheva was still better, and Bnei-Yehuda, with Alon Mizrahi and Avi Tikwa gone, couldn't build any normal attacks. Sergei Gusev, Chaba Horvath and Djula Jibotski, the attacking foreigners of Beer-Sheva, showed their intentions to bring the team into a good future; but the hot story was Yossi Benayoun, just 17 years old but having already a record of playing in Ajax' young team. Coming as a substitute after 66 minutes of play, Benayoun needed just 15 minutes to set the final score - he made a great pass to Oren Sagron whose shot was well blocked by Rafi Cohen, and he was the man to shoot a clever flat rebound from 15 meters diagonally, between the lying keeper, the diving defender and the post. 2:0 to the Cup holders in the opening game of the season.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion didn't impress at all, but still managed to defeat Hapoel Beit-Shean, 2:0 at home. Beit-Shean, playing without its key players because of the financial problems, was defending its net bravely, just to be beaten 10 minutes before the break by a combination of Nissan Capeta - Moshe Sebeg - Sharon Martsiano. Rishon's keeper Sagi Strauss made several good saves against Beit-Shean's counterattacks and was once beaten by a ball of Udi Shnorman that hit the post; but mostly those were the attacking developments of Rishon, created by its new foreigners Evgeniy Kashentsev and Zlatko Zupatic. However, the last goal came just 8 minutes from time and was purely Israeli - Dani Albert sent a far-ranged ball to Nissan Capeta, and the latter stopped it inside the box and shot a bomb past Meir Cohen. 2:0.
A huge surprise was registered in Ramat-Gan, where Maccabee Tel-Aviv was mercilessly beaten by Hapoel Kefar-Saba, 1:2. After just 5 minutes, it was a cool slalom of Yaniv Avvargeal in a counterattack, passing Gadi Brumer and shooting a bomb under the right crossbar of Alexander Uvarov. Maccabee Tel-Aviv managed to equalize after 21 minutes of play, when Avi Nimni was knocked down by Itai Koren inside the box and converted the penalty himself. Still, the Brazilian band of Kefar-Saba (Paolo Corvinel, Carrabilio Walker, Francisco Washington de Santos and Celsao Sousa) conducted the game and brought it to a victory. Washington was knocked down near the box (41), Avvargeal shot a wonderful curved kick under the bar, parried by Alexander Uvarov, and Itai Koren headed the rebound in; the desperate save of already lying Uvarov came from beyond the goal-line. Maccabee had an opportunity to equalize later on, when Moshe Glam (surprised, eh?..) was kicked down inside the box by Washington after a great penetration on the left wing; the 1st penalty shot of Nimni was disallowed as some of Maccabee's players had entered the box too early, and the 2nd mighty shot of the same Nimni hit the right crossbar of Eran Scheinsinger and went out.
Hapoel Haifa, meeting "The Empire Of Luzons" at home, was quite confused and lost 2 of its key players, the foreigners Sergen Culakovic and Sinica Concalovic, early in the 2nd half to the dubious red cards shown by a weak referee Arik Haimovich; nevertheless, the guests were not any better, and so the dull game and the nil draw result are quite justified. Finally, the only 2 opportunities were of the hosts, one taken superbly by Golan Malul and the other wasted by Reuven Attar who bombed it from 15 meters to the right post of the guests. Avi Perets in Haifa's net, reaching Haifa altogether with his coach Eli Gutman and leaving Beer-Sheva therefore, didn't impress at all; however, he wasn't threatened much...
Hapoel Ashkelon, the proud Champion of the Country League the last year, made no serious attempts to improve its own level with experienced players; just 2 of those were bought, Offer Mizrahi and the former Dutch International John de Wolf. The former was injured after just 21 minutes of play, without really doing anything useful, and the latter opened this season with a goal, but an own one... This way, Hapoel Jerusalem won its first game away. Nir Levi still managed to beat Liran Strauber with a good equalizer (58), but then the guests scored a decisive goal - Michel Dayan performed a corner kick, Assaf Tubi headed it home, Asi Rakhamim managed to parry the first threat, but not the rebound of Salman Amar. Looking at Ashkelon, we might be afraid the story of Hapoel Taibe would repeat itself.
Looking at another newcomer, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, we may see, however, that at least one team made a perfect preparation to the new season. Gadi Hazut, Guy Sharabi and Victor Genish were brought to create a very experienced and calm defensive line, supported by the young and ambitious Gal Fibakh and Assif Ben-Ishai; in the net, the skill and the experience (including the International one) of Akakiy Devadze will make the difference. In the midline, Alon Hazan and Naor Galili will support the attacking Igal Zrihen and Amir Turgeman, and the Finnish forward Jan Suokonatio seems to be well-acclimatized. This is the way to build the team, and yesterday it was proved after just 29 seconds of play, as Alon Hazan sent a wonderful deep ball to Naor Galili who advanced to roll a clever ball between Itzhak Korenfein's legs. What a surprise!
From that moment on, indeed, it was just Beitar all over, but Ashdod's will and Beitar's tiredness finished the game with just a draw - 10 minutes after the shock, Eli Ohana slid the ball with his head to Istvan Hamar who headed it in. Ohana himself shot a magnificent ball from 20 meters to the left post of the helpless Devadze (20), and then he passed two defenders and the keeper just to miss an empty frame (43); in the rest of the cases, it was Devadze all over, much more secure than in Taibe, and in a really great performance. Naor Galili saved the ball from the goal-line (85); 2 minutes before that, Devadze made a brilliant acrobatic save from the bomb of Istvan Pisont, "The Save Of The Week". Last but not the least, it was the crucial mistake of the referee Amit Klein, denying Nir Sevilla and Beitar a clear penalty in an injury time; still, all the credit goes to Ashdod and its keeper.
And finally, it was another Georgian player to make his team a day. Maccabee Herzliya was better than Hapoel Tel-Aviv, but just unlucky in a certain way; it met Shavit Elimelekh in a pretty good day, its misses were numerous, and even the penalty kick, earned and shot by Yair Asayag (41), was parried superbly by the keeper. Still, Herzliya was trying and trying all the time, pressing and pressing, and its keeper Shuli Gilardi hardly touched the ball during the 2nd half. Finally, the injury time came without any goals scored, to become a victorious hour of Georgi Daraselia. His throw-in 25 meters from the net found the young Pinney Balili inside Herzliya's box, Balili touched the ball lightly to roll it back, and Daraselia curved a magnificent ball from the box edge towards his far (the keeper's left) corner at half a height out of reach of the desperately diving Gilardi. Daraselia, who still in Wednesday played in the European Cup with his former Georgian team, Kolkheti-Poti-1913, made a tremendous and exhausting effort to pass a sleepless night, but to come to Israel on time; yesterday he was rewarded, and greatly rewarded. A little piece of trivia, dear subscribers. Daraselia's father was the famous player of Dinamo Tbilisi, scoring the winner in the European Cups Winners' Cup final of 1981 for the Georgian soccer cruiser.
THE NEXT WEEK: Maccabee Tel-Aviv (11-12) hosts Beitar Jerusalem (7-8), and Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (14-15) hosts Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (16); according to the tradition, those games are NOT TO BE MISSED! Maccabee Haifa (1) will host Hapoel Ashkelon (11-12), in the game repeating the last year's Cup 1/8 finals. Hapoel Kefar-Saba (4-5) meets Hapoel Tel-Aviv (6), the only 2 winners of the last week who will meat each other.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - MACCABEE HAIFA 1:4 (1:0).
-------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Moti Kakun (41).
Guests: Alon Mizrahi (62, 88), Sergei Kandaurov (65), Avishai Zhano (83).
THE BEST: Sergei Kandaurov, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
On the 65th minute Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) missed a penalty kick -
Shai Hess saved to the post. Kandaurov was the first on the rebound to score.
HAPOEL RISHON LE-ZION - Hapoel Beit-Shean 2:0 (1:0).
------------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Sharon Martsiano (35), Nissan Capeta (82).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Meir Azran, defender, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.
HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 2:0 (1:0).
-----------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Oren Sagron (17), Yossi Benayoun (81).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Oren Sagron, forward, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
Hapoel Ashkelon - HAPOEL JERUSALEM 1:2 (0:0).
-----------------------------------------------
Hosts: Nir Levi (58).
Guests: OG (John de Wolf, 51), Salman Amar (71).
THE BEST: Stephan Mihei, defender, Hapoel Jerusalem.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv - HAPOEL KEFAR-SABA 1:2 (1:2).
--------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Avi Nimni (21 pen).
Guests: Yaniv Avvargeal (5), Itai Koren (41).
THE BEST: Yaniv Avvargeal, forward, Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
On the 41st minute Yaniv Avvargeal (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) missed a penalty
kick - Alexander Uvarov saved. Itai Koren scored from the rebound.
On the 50th minute Avi Nimni (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) missed a penalty kick -
the ball hit the right crossbar.
Maccabee Herzliya - HAPOEL TEL-AVIV 0:1 (0:0).
------------------------------------------------
Hosts: -.
Guests: Georgi Daraselia (90).
THE BEST: Georgi Daraselia, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
On the 41st minute Yair Asayag (Maccabee Herzliya) missed a penalty kick -
Shavit Elimelekh saved.
Beitar Jerusalem - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 1:1 (1:1).
-----------------------------------------------------
Hosts: Istvan Hamar (11).
Guests: Naor Galili (1).
THE BEST: Akakiy Devadze, keeper, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod.
Hapoel Haifa - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 0:0.
-------------------------------------------
Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
RED: Sergen Culakovic, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa, 55.
Sinica Concalovic, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa, 58.
THE BEST: Ran Ben-Shimon, defender, Hapoel Haifa.
THE WEEK'S TEAM:
----------------
Akakiy Devadze
(Maccabee Ironi Ashdod)
Meir Azran Stephan Mihei Tamir Netser Gabi Sapir
(Rishon le-Zion) (Hapoel Jerusalem) (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) (Hapoel Kefar-Saba)
Naor Galili Sergei Kandaurov Oren Sagron Georgi Daraselia
(Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) (Maccabee Haifa) (Hap. Beer-Sheva) (Hapoel Tel-Aviv)
Alon Mizrahi Yaniv Avvargeal
(Maccabee Haifa) (Hapoel Kefar-Saba)
Hapoel Kefar-Saba - 3.
Maccabee Haifa, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod - 2.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion,
Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Hapoel Jerusalem - 1.
THE BEST GOAL:
91: 5) Oren Sagron.
4) Yaniv Avvargeal.
3) Georgi Daraselia.
2) Moti Kakun.
1) Alon Mizrahi, the 1st.
MO: Georgi Daraselia.
THE BEST SAVE:
MO: Akakiy Devadze, from Istvan Pisont, 83.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (5) Maccabee Haifa 01 1 0 0 4- 1 3
2 (3) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 01 1 0 0 2- 0 3
- (9) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 01 1 0 0 2- 0 3
4 (8) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 01 1 0 0 2- 1 3
- (12) Hapoel Jerusalem 01 1 0 0 2- 1 3
6 (13) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 01 1 0 0 1- 0 3
7 (1) Beitar Jerusalem 01 0 1 0 1- 1 1
- (16) Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 01 0 1 0 1- 1 1
9 (7) Hapoel Haifa 01 0 1 0 0- 0 1
- (4) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 01 0 1 0 0- 0 1
11 (6) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 01 0 0 1 1- 2 0
-- (15) Hapoel Ashkelon 01 0 0 1 1- 2 0
13 (14) Maccabee Herzliya 01 0 0 1 0- 1 0
14 (11) Hapoel Beit-Shean 01 0 0 1 0- 2 0
-- (10) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 01 0 0 1 0- 2 0
16 (2) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 01 0 0 1 1- 4 0
IN BRACKETS - the places of the teams after the last Championship.
BEST PLAYER: Sergei Kandaurov, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.
TOP SCORERS: Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 2(0) 2
NOTE - the penalties scored are put in brackets. The last
column means the number of goals scored this week.
THE NEXT ROUND (in a week):
| Hosts | Guests |
| Maccabee Haifa (1) | Hapoel Ashkelon (11-12) |
| Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (9-10) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (2-3) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (14-15) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (2-3) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (4-5) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (6) |
| Hapoel Jerusalem (4-5) | Maccabee Herzliya (13) |
| Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (7-8) | Hapoel Haifa (9-10) |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (11-12) | Beitar Jerusalem (7-8) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (14-15) | Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (16) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Main Page | Soccer Page | 1997-98, History | Next, Week 02 |