Just 15 goals in 8 games, but we have nothing to complain about, as after all it was the wonderful weekend thriller. One major surprise, 3 games of wonderful quality, 2 penalty shoot-outs and a shock of the last attack in Kiryat-Shmona, this time not a warhead of Katyusha rocket, but a header of Roman Filipchuk. Three top teams of the Israeli football defeated their rivals even with a player down, and they are in the quarterfinals, with a good chance for two of them to meet each other. And Maccabee Shaarayim of League C is in the quarterfinals, this time defeating Maccabee Ironi Ashdod from League B in Shaarayim's third consecutive penalty shoot-out to end with a 5:4 result.

15 goals in 8 games, and the keepers' stars are shining brighter than in any week I remember; filling my "Team Of The Week" and putting there "The Keeper Of The Week", I nevertheless felt an unjustice done to several others, who'd have deserved to be there, had it been an ordinary week. Good performances for the second keepers of their teams, Nir Davidovich of Maccabee Haifa (6, YEDIOTH AHRONOTH mark) and Vitaliy Tsygankov of Maccabee Acco (6), leaving the usual first choices, the International keeper Rafi Cohen and the experienced Giora Antman, on the benches and producing several sparkling saves. A brilliant show of Shuli Gilardi (6.5) of Maccabee Herzliya, not able to pass with his team to the next stage, but being very confident throughout the game against the best Israeli attack. A drama of Liran Strauber of Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (6), being good throughout the game, stopping 3 (!) after-match penalties and still losing. A great disappointment of Zoltan Veg of Hapoel Haifa (7), making us forget his mistake from the last week with a magnificent performance, but being beaten once when his defence was dreaming with the open eyes. A hero of Shkhunat-ha'Tikwa was the International keeper Bonnie Ginzburg (7), who saved his team time after time from a surprisingly good Hapoel Ramat-Gan. But there were two very best, the diamonds in the crown, though so different. One 22-years old, and one who turned 36 1.5 months ago, one playing in the mud of Rekhovot and the second remembering the best stadiums of Europe... Amir Guz of Maccabee Shaarayim (7.5), who was wonderful throughout the game and then stopped 4 (!) after-match penalties, and Alexander Uvarov of Maccabee Tel-Aviv (8), whose bravery and skill yesterday can hardly be described.

Another "Game Of The Season", the second consecutive one between Hapoel Haifa and Maccabee Tel-Aviv, was held this time in Kiryat-Eliezer and produced a lot of good moments, goal opportunities, several harsh referee mistakes, a red card and most of all, two wonderful keepers. Victor Moroz, Evgeniy Kashentsev and Nir Klinger saw Zoltan Veg in several fantastic flights to deny their shots; the keeper reached his peak when he parried a ball by Klinger in one-to-one, and got up to parry the bomb of Zohar and to deny in his third consecutive flight the rebound of Hageage. However, even these saves couldn't prevent what seemed to be inevitable in the trend of these minutes - first, Haim Hageage, pressed by a keeper, sent a ball to the crossbar, and then Nir Klinger (24), left to his own devices in the box after a bad off-side trap by Haifa's defence, sent after a pass of Yaacov Hillel a precise volley-turn ball to the right corner of Veg, a ball that the keeper could not stop and that eventually became the winner.

From this moment on, Maccabee was based mostly on the counter-attacks, all denied superbly by Veg, and Hapoel was pressing and pressing. However, Alexander Uvarov, who eliminated Maccabee Haifa at April 5th, 1994, in Kiryat-Eliezer with his superb performance in that 1/8 Cup game, did the same to another Haifa team. Shura parried the ball of Turgeman (40) in a superb flight, and also denied him near the end; a lot of saves from the balls of Banin, Attar and Lajec are also to be mentioned. The mark he got is also caused by his bravery - having collided with Dani Niron and denying a certain goal doing so, Uvarov got a light brainshake, but continued to play up to the very end and made several more saves; just after the game he turned to get a hospital treatment.

There were several arguable moments in this game, and the referee Meir Levi wasn't always right. The TV proved that Nir Klinger wasn't offside at the time he scored, and so the referee was right; however, a clear penalty earned by Liron Basis of Hapoel Haifa, after the foul by Ron Nakhman, wasn't given. Amir Turgeman, sent down by Amir Shelakh, wanted a penalty kick but didn't get it, too. And the interesting moment came after 72 minutes - Itzhak Zohar sent a goal pass to Eli Driks who scored, and Meir Levi sent the players to the mid-circle, but then got a sign from his linesman and disallowed the goal. The opinions are still different about the offside of Driks, but Maccabee stayed in ten players after Zohar, not able to control himself after the possible unjustice, had told the linesman something the cyberspace wouldn't like to see written or cited.

Ten players is no problem if the team knows to play, and this was proved yesterday in another fantastic game, seen in Herzliya. It started with a refereeing mistake - Alexander Taikov kicked Istvan Salloi down, and Dani Koren awarded a penalty kick, though the foul was outside the box; Salloi himself scored from the penalty spot and was wonderful throughout the match. Herzliya wasn't broken and scored through a great strike of Oleg Naduda after a goal pass of the "youngster" Nissim Cohen; on the other hand, it was Shuli Gilardi who left his net clear after dangerous attacks of the guests. Herzliya got an advantage, after Yossi Abuksis was sent off with his second yellow card, but in practice, it was different, as Beitar suddenly started to be very active. It was Gilardi all over at the regular time, but after a while, even he couldn't help - Israel Cohen tried to deny the ball from Ronen Harazi but deflected it to Pisont, who sent it in from 7 meters, joining Offer Shitrit at the "Cup Top Scorers List" and sending his team to the quarterfinals. Another game of quality, and Herzliya can really see itself disappointed; still, the team of Gili Landau is definitely not the relegation candidate, as it was for the last two seasons, but the team to consider. And as for Beitar, its coach Eli Cohen said several weeks ago the physical shape of his team was the best in the League; it seems to be so, as the players were fresh even after 90 tough minutes.

Ten players was also the destiny of Maccabee Haifa at home, after the 2nd yellow card shown to Sergei Kandaurov just after half an hour; Kandaurov became the first player this year to be sent off in the Cup, the Toto Cup and the National League, something he shouldn't be proud of. Even so, Kandaurov scored beforehand, and Offer Shitrit finished the story seconds before the break, with his powerful left to the close corner of Vitaliy Tsygankov. Haifa showed a certain defiance towards the rival, playing without Rafi Cohen, Haim Revivo and Alon Hazan (the two last came as the substitutes), and later on, also without Kandaurov; however, there were Eyal Berkovich and Offer Shitrit to do the job. Tsygankov registered the series of the nice saves, but the best one belonged to Nir Davidovich - Oren Mukharer (76), surrounded by two defenders, still turned and shot powerfully, but Davidovich in a brilliant flight sent it to a corner. The defending Cup Holder still defends it.

Another bright game was registered in "Ha'Makhtesh" in Givatayim, where the hosts Hapoel Ramat-Gan, being down from an early goal by Hanokh Mararo, were pressing Bnei-Yehuda and attacking vigorously, just to see Bonnie Ginzburg saving the guests time after time. Yuval Nayim, the threatening defender of Ramat-Gan, sent a wonderful free kick to the bar (43); on the other hand, Nir Sevilla was denied by Shimon Mualem in one-to-one. It seemed to be the question of time until Ramat-Gan scored, but Offer Levi thought otherwise, scoring in the counterattack from 10 meters and an angle of virtually zero; it seems like Shimon Mualem, Ramat-Gan's keeper, isn't a fan of either the United States or Romania, otherwise he would've paid much more attention to the mistake of Toni Meola. Yuval Nayim reduced the score with another brilliant free kick, only to tell us after the game: "It's a tremendous insanity of ours not to win this game". So, the keepers were responsible again, one for good and one for bad. Bnei-Yehuda lacked Alon Mizrahi for his yellow cards, and maybe, this was the reason for all the difficulties it faced.

A real thriller took place in Rekhovot, where Maccabee Shaarayim, the Cinderella of this year's Cup, played Maccabee Ironi Ashdod from League B. Shaarayim surprisingly took an early lead, after Yariv Sadeh performed a corner kick, Yehuda Benodis headed it to the post, and Guy Mizrahi was on a rebound to put it in. Ironi equalized from the wonderful far-ranger of Laszlo Czeh, and the score was preserved up to the very end, including an extra-time, mostly because of Liran Strauber and especially of Amir Guz. And here came the penalties. The regular time scorers scored each at the first shots, and the seconds were also in. A save by both keepers, and then Amir Guz saved the ball by Alon Cohen. The captain of Shaarayim, Yossi Aflallo, should've scored and finished the story, but Strauber saved the "matchball", and the equalizer came. At the very first kick of "one-one" series Strauber saved again, but here came the turn of Amir Guz to save his first "matchball" from the kick of the former International Ephraim Davidi. One more goal for each side, and then Shmuel Cosy scored, and Amir Guz saved. This is the third consecutive time that Maccabee Shaarayim passes to the next stage from the penalty shoot-out with the same score of 5:4, and all the times it's Amir Guz who's bringing the modest team its victory.

Three other games were not something to talk much about. Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, playing against Beitar Tel-Aviv in a very dull game of both teams, led the game to the penalty kicks, where it was eliminated - the first 4 shots of both teams were precise, and then Roman Pets missed the frame, and Ronen Schweig took care of the winner, 5:4 to Beitar, and Holon can be concentrated from now on only on staying in the National League, which is an important task.

A good film "Beit-Shean - The Film Of War", about the unexpected survival of Beit-Shean in the National League less than a year ago, was shown yesterday, but had been filmed a lot beforehand; yesterday there was no war and no motivation, as Beit-Shean raised the hands from the very beginning. Rishon wasn't far better, but had a motivation, and so scored and won.

And a certain surprise could've been registered in Kiryat-Shmona, had the game ended 2 minutes earlier. There, Hapoel Kiryat-Shmona was better than Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, but the last planned attack of the game did a justice to the Toto gamblers - Eyal Beglyabter bounced the ball into the box, and there it was met by a header of Roman Filipchuk from 5 meters, leaving no chance to Ronen Azulai.

Next week there's a regular League. But the Cup is wonderful, as a lot of surprises can happen, and the teams usually make their best in these 90, 120 or a little more minutes, everything just to win, as there is no second chance to check the mistakes.

Hapoel Haifa - MACCABEE TEL-AVIV  0:1 (0:1).
---------------------------------------------
Hosts:    -.
Guests:   Nir Klinger (24).
RED:      Itzhak Zohar, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 72.
THE BEST: Alexander Uvarov, keeper, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.


Maccabee Herzliya - BEITAR JERUSALEM  1:2 AET (1:1, 1:1, 1:2).
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Oleg Naduda (25).
Guests:   Istvan Salloi (5 pen), Istvan Pisont (92).
RED:      Yossi Abuksis, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem, 60.
THE BEST: Eli Ohana, forward, Beitar Jerusalem.


MACCABEE HAIFA - Maccabee Acco (League B)  2:0 (2:0).
------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Sergei Kandaurov (13), Offer Shitrit (45).
Guests:   -.
RED:      Sergei Kandaurov, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa, 31.
THE BEST: Eyal Berkovich, midfielder, Maccabee Haifa.


Hapoel Kiryat-Shmona (League B) - MACCABEE PETAKH-TIKWA  0:1 (0:0).
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    -.
Guests:   Roman Filipchuk (89).
THE BEST: Eyal Beglyabter, midfielder, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.


HAPOEL RISHON LE-ZION - Hapoel Beit-Shean  3:0 (1:0).
------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Moshe Sebeg (13), Nir Shikwa (60), David Elkaslassi (86).
Guests:   -.
THE BEST: Moshe Sebeg, defender, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.


Hapoel Ramat-Gan (League B) - BNEI-YEHUDA TEL-AVIV  1:2 (0:1).
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Yuval Nayim (83).
Guests:   Hanokh Mararo (6), Offer Levi (72).
THE BEST: Bonnie Ginzburg, keeper, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.


Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - BEITAR TEL-AVIV  4:5 (0:0 AET).
---------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    -.
PENALTIES (first):   Ran Hafif        1:0
                     Haim Goldberg    2:1
                     Oren Zeituni     3:2
                     Hezi Shirazi     4:3
                     Roman Pets       4:4  (too high)
Guests:   -.
PENALTIES (second):  Victor Mondi     1:1
                     Moshe Eisenberg  2:2
                     Lubomir Pawek    3:3
                     Yaniv Avvargeal  4:4
                     Ronen Schweig    4:5

THE BEST: Lubomir Pawek, defender, Beitar Tel-Aviv.


MACCABEE SHAARAYIM (League C) - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (League B)
                                 6:5 (1:1, 1:1, 1:1, 1:1).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Guy Mizrahi (9).
PENALTIES (first):   Guy Mizrahi     1:0
                     Ronnie Maman    2:1
                     Ronen Itakh     2:2  (Liran Strauber)
                     Yariv Sadeh     3:2
                     Yossi Aflallo   3:2  (Liran Strauber)
                     Yehuda Benodis  3:3  (Liran Strauber)
                     Sasi Mingad     4:3
                     Shmuel Cosy     5:4
Guests:   Laszlo Czeh (42).
PENALTIES (second):  Laszlo Czeh     1:1
                     Igal Zrihen     2:2
                     Sharon Raphael  2:2  (Amir Guz)
                     Alon Cohen      3:2  (Amir Guz)
                     Dudu Heffer     3:3
                     Ephraim Davidi  3:3  (Amir Guz)
                     Eli Revivo      4:4
                     Nissim Malka    5:4  (Amir Guz)

THE BEST: Amir Guz, keeper, Maccabee Shaarayim.





                             THE 11 OF THE ROUND
                             ------------------
                              Alexander Uvarov
                             (Maccabee Tel-Aviv)

  Guy Mizrahi       Gadi Brumer       Arik Benado         Yuval Nayim
(Mcb. Shaarayim)  (Mcb. Tel-Aviv)  (Beitar Jerusalem)  (Hapoel Ramat-Gan)

  Nir Klinger      Israel Mutsafi      Istvan Salloi      Eyal Berkovich
(Mcb. Tel-Aviv)  (Hapoel Ramat-Gan)  (Beitar Jerusalem)  (Maccabee Haifa)

                     Eli Ohana        Offer Shitrit
                 (Beitar Jerusalem)  (Maccabee Haifa)


3: Maccabee Tel-Aviv  (League A)
3: Beitar Jerusalem   (League A)
2: Maccabee Haifa     (League A)
2: Hapoel Ramat-Gan   (League B)
1: Maccabee Shaarayim (League C)


THE BEST OF THE ROUND: Alexander Uvarov, keeper, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.


CUP TOP SCORERS:
        Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Haifa)             5        1
        Istvan Pisont (Beitar Jerusalem)           5 (1)    1
        ******************************************************
        Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem)               2
        Vladimir Zayarny (Maccabee Acco)           2
        Nir Sevilla (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv)         2
        Yuval Nayim (Hapoel Ramat-Gan)             2 (1)    1
        Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda)                 2 (1)


THE TEAMS IN 1/4 FINALS:
        Maccabee Tel-Aviv      (A,  1) - Def. Champion
        Beitar Jerusalem     * (A,  2)
        Maccabee Haifa       * (A,  3) - Def. Cup Holder
        Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa  (A,  5)
        Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv * (A,  9)
        Hapoel Rishon le-Zion  (A, 11)
        Beitar Tel-Aviv        (A, 16)
        Maccabee Shaarayim     (C,  6)

* - last year also in the quarterfinals.

The League and the current position there are shown in brackets.
The 1/4 finals will be played at April 6, the seeding is held at March 1.

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