21 goals, 5 red and 47 yellow cards, 2 converted penalties and a wonderful "Game Of The Season" - this was the harvest of this weekend, a wonderful one before the terrible events of the night. Could I ever think a political assassination would take place in Israel? Even disagreeing constantly with the policy of Rabin, I'm nevertheless shocked, horrored and disgusted by the way he was "answered". No answer for any policy is in violence. Of any kind.
Well, life still goes on, and let's talk soccer, a game which makes people united and not separated, a game enjoyed by people of any nationality and political views. As I told, there were 21 goals, several of them just very beautiful. Maccabee Tel-Aviv regained the lead after several weeks, and Maccabee Haifa and Beitar Jerusalem, falling behind the leader, still remain unbeaten and can look in a pretty optimistic way towards the future, according to the game they were playing. Maccabee Herzliya and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa achieved two nice victories, the latter with 9 players (!); Beitar Tel-Aviv and Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, on the other hand, proceed with going down. Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa surprised all of us, defeating Hapoel Haifa after being down at home; Hapoel Beer-Sheva, unfortunately, did not surprise anybody, losing once more to the top team. Maccabee Yaffa made very important points against Bnei-Yehuda; Yaffa wins by now every team from the bottom, and this is the certain way to stay in the League for another year. A good game was registered between Hapoel Rishon le-Zion and Hapoel Kefar-Saba, and an important draw was achieved by Hapoel Beit-Shean in Tel-Aviv.
Giora Spiegel, the coach of Maccabee Haifa, surprised everyone with putting Nir Davidovich, the 19-years-old Olympic keeper, into the net instead of the International keeper Rafi Cohen; the decision proved to be pretty justified, after a nice performance of Davidovich, with 2 arguable goals, indeed, but also 2 great saves, a beautiful reaction to the strike of Ronen Harazi (16) and a great victory over David Amsalem in one-to-one (86). The game was pretty equal, with a lot of opportunities for both sides and 2 goals to contend for "The Goal Of The Season"; 2 great magicians of Israeli football, Eyal Berkovich of Haifa and Istvan Salloi of Jerusalem, created nearly all the opportunities for their teams. Beitar scored first, just before a half-time: Salloi found Eli Ohana, who misled Roman Pets and shot powerfully from an incredibly hard angle under the bar, a fantastic effort. Haifa equalized just after the break: Offer Shitrit (who, playing 90 minutes for the first time, didn't score, but was bright and took an active part in creating both goals) was clearly knocked down into the box with no reaction of the referee Itzhak Ben-Itzhak and, getting mad about the whistle's silence, rushed to kidnap the ball and passed it to Eyal Berkovich; the latter entered the box, passed 2 defenders and the keeper Itzhak Korenfein and shot to an empty net from an angle of virtually zero, and as the ball was cleared from the line, Sergei Kandaurov was on the rebound to put it in. The 2nd goal of Haifa was definitely the best team effort to be seen this year: Offer Shitrit got a ball just after the midline, passed one defender, ran away from the other and passed the ball greatly to Eyal Berkovich; the latter one-touched it to Haim Revivo, and Haim, being sided to the net, curved without stopping a fantastic left-footed shot to a high right corner of Korenfein, who didn't react. And when everything seemed to be clear, Beitar equalized through a very good combination of Amsalem - Salloi - Harazi, with the latter shooting from 12 meters to the close corner of Haifa. The last word was, as I forementioned, of Nir Davidovich to deny Amsalem. To be objective, the draw reflects the real forces, and both teams can really be satisfied with the quality of their play.
In Beer-Sheva, Maccabee Tel-Aviv defeated Hapoel Beer-Sheva, which failed again to play well against the real Empire of Israeli soccer. Indeed, Sergei Gusev equalized and entered the list of "6-scorers", to join there Nir Klinger; but Dror Kashtan, Maccabee's coach, made a good decision while sending Avi Nimni to the pitch; the injured Nimni was substituted after merely 20 minutes, during which he created the 2 last goals of the leaders.
My congratulations are sent to one of my subscribers, Ilan Zilberstein, as the team he supports, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, registered "The Surprise Of The Round" and defeated Hapoel Haifa at home. This summer, the star of Petakh-Tikwa, Ran Ben-Shimon, was sold to Haifa; Petakh-Tikwa lost the star, but got quite a bunch of money to buy several good players, amongst them Najouan Grayib. This summer story continued in the game - Ben-Shimon scored against his former team, but Grayib replied twice, once when he shot a great volley from a very hard angle between Zoltan Veg and the post. Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa under Avraham Marchinsky is by now entirely different from Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa under Menashe Nuriel; as for Haifa, I'm sure they will regain the points and will struggle at the top, as the League is long enough to proceed.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Hapoel Beit-Shean departed with a nil draw, half a satisfaction for each team; the only interesting moments were the good saves of Jaroslav Baku (Tel-Aviv) and Meir Cohen (Beit-Shean) and the fact that the substitute of the hosts, Ronen Gabai, was sent off after being on the pitch for 2 minutes (!), for arguing with a referee. Well, the World Record of that kind belongs, if my memory serves me right, to Tamir Ben-Haim of Hapoel Kefar-Saba: during the last season in League B, the game between Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Kefar-Saba in Jerusalem (5:0 to Kefar-Saba) was marked by the fact that the substitute Tamir Ben-Haim stayed on the pitch for just 7 seconds (!) before being sent off for a brutal entry to the legs.
Maccabee Herzliya registered a nice victory over Beitar Tel-Aviv, scoring 3 goals, one of them very beautiful: Offer Mizrahi got a ball from Vassili Ivanov and shot it with a left foot, pressed by a defender, to a high right corner of Sagi Strauss; to be mentioned is also a great save by Shuli Gilardi from the shot of Moshe Eisenberg. And Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, with a forward sent off just after 8 minutes, and a defender and a coach being sent off during the 2nd half, still managed to defeat the weak squad of Hapoel Tsafririm Holon. Both winning teams made an important rush forward. As for Holon, their manager Mordechai Spiegler didn't sound worried: "That's correct, our situation is far from being bright, but I still do believe in young and somewhat unexperienced players I'm training. I feel no reason for retirement, and I'm sure I'll make it better in a while".
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion could've rushed forward too, but made just a draw vs the outsider from Kefar-Saba, also pretty unexpected result. Rishon were also lucky, as they equalized very quickly, being 0:2 down, and then Shavit Elimelekh preserved the score twice with his fantastic instincts. One of Rishon's goals was a real beauty, as many of the goals this week - Yossi Gordana got a ball, screwed himself between the 2 defenders and shot mightily just under the bar of Eran Scheinsinger.
And finally, Maccabee Yaffa gained 3 very important points against Bnei-Yehuda at home. Bonnie Ginzburg, the International keeper of Bnei-Yehuda, can be partly satisfied, as he made an incredible save from the shot by Avi Pitusi and was good throughout the game, so his chances to stand in Israeli net in France 10 days from now are higher than these of Rafi Cohen. Still, he was beaten once, and this was enough - Avi Pitusi was knocked down into the box by David Liberman, and Avivi Zohar misled Bonnie to convert the penalty into a winner. Pitusi was sent off shortly after then, and Nir Sevilla had a very good header several minutes from the time, to be saved magnificently by Boris Beloshapka. Haven't I told enough about this keeper throughout the time?
There will be no League next Saturday, as our National teams plays in France on November 15, the last game of EC'96 preliminaries. France would like to wipe out the embarrassment of the famous 2:3 in Paris (13/10/1993) and 0:0 here (29/03/1995), and so our guys forelook for a very tough match. This weekend, however, was good for a lot of our Internationals: Bonnie Ginzburg and Offer Mizrahi, Nir Klinger and Itzhak Zohar, Eli Driks and Haim Revivo, Eyal Berkovich, David Amsalem and Ronen Harazi. GOOD LUCK to you, boys!
AND IN A FORTNIGHT: we'll see Maccabee Tel-Aviv to play vs Maccabee Herzliya, trying to forget about their 2 draws from the last season. As for Maccabee Haifa, it'll play in Beit-Shean, against the team that took the crucial points from Haifa during the last week of the last season. Also to be seen - Beitar Jerusalem against its permanent "dark horse", Hapoel Tsafririm Holon.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva - MACCABEE TEL-AVIV 1:3 (0:1).
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Hosts: Sergei Gusev (46).
Guests: Nir Klinger (27), Itzhak Zohar (75), Eli Driks (79).
THE BEST: Itzhak Zohar, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
Maccabee Haifa - Beitar Jerusalem 2:2 (0:1).
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Hosts: Sergei Kandaurov (46), Haim Revivo (71).
Guests: Eli Ohana (44), Ronen Harazi (82).
THE BEST: Offer Shitrit, forward, Maccabee Haifa.
MACCABEE PETAKH-TIKWA - Hapoel Haifa 2:1 (0:0).
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Hosts: Najouan Grayib (70, 84).
Guests: Ran Ben-Shimon (49).
RED: Nir Sokher, defender, Hapoel Haifa, 90.
THE BEST: Najouan Grayib, forward, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv - Hapoel Beit-Shean 0:0.
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Hosts: -.
Guests: -.
RED: Ronen Gabai, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 74.
THE BEST: Yehuda Amar, midfielder, Hapoel Beit-Shean.
Hapoel Tsafririm Holon - HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA 0:2 (0:2).
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Hosts: -.
Guests: Alon Maya (26), Moti Kakun (36).
RED: Eli Abrabanel, forward, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, 8.
Yoav Hershko, defender, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, 54.
THE BEST: Manor Hassan, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
MACCABEE HERZLIYA - Beitar Tel-Aviv 3:0 (1:0).
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Hosts: Offer Mizrahi (43, 84), Yaniv Cohen (77).
Guests: -.
THE BEST: Offer Mizrahi, forward, Maccabee Herzliya.
MACCABEE YAFFA - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 1:0 (0:0).
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Hosts: Avivi Zohar (58 pen).
Guests: -.
RED: Avi Pitusi, midfielder, Maccabee Yaffa, 77.
THE BEST: Marius Korac, defender, Maccabee Yaffa.
Hapoel Rishon le-Zion - Hapoel Kefar-Saba 2:2 (2:2).
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Hosts: Yossi Gordana (34), Meir Azran (39 pen).
Guests: Cobi Refua (5, 31).
THE BEST: Cobi Refua, midfielder, Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
THE ROUND'S TEAM:
-----------------
Shuli Gilardi
(Maccabee Herzliya)
Tamir Netser Walid Badir Arik Benado Marius Korac
(Maccabee Yaffa) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Maccabee Yaffa)
Manor Hassan Yossi Abuksis Itzhak Zohar Cobi Refua
(Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Mcb. Tel-Aviv) (Hap. Kefar-Saba)
Offer Mizrahi Offer Shitrit
(Maccabee Herzliya) (Maccabee Haifa)
Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabee Herzliya, Maccabee Yaffa, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - 2.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv, Maccabee Haifa, Hapoel Kefar-Saba - 1.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals Points
1 (2) Maccabee Tel-Aviv 08 7 0 1 21- 7 21
2 (1) Beitar Jerusalem 08 6 2 0 19-10 20
3 (3) Maccabee Haifa 08 5 3 0 18- 9 18
4 (4) Hapoel Haifa 08 5 1 2 18- 8 16
5 (5) Hapoel Tel-Aviv 08 4 2 2 11- 9 14
6 (7) Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 08 3 4 1 12- 8 13
7 (8) Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 08 4 1 3 16-18 13
8 (6) Hapoel Beer-Sheva 08 3 3 2 16-11 12
9 (10) Maccabee Herzliya 08 3 1 4 8- 9 10
10 (13) Maccabee Yaffa 08 3 0 5 8-16 9
11 (9) Hapoel Beit-Shean 08 2 2 4 9-12 8
12 (12) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 08 2 1 5 8-12 7
13 (11) Beitar Tel-Aviv 08 2 1 5 11-19 7
14 (14) Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 08 1 2 5 9-18 5
15 (15) Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 08 1 1 6 10-17 4
16 (16) Hapoel Kefar-Saba 08 0 2 6 7-18 2
BEST PLAYER: Itzhak Zohar, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
TOP SCORERS: Reuven Attar (Hapoel Haifa) 8(2)
******************************************************
Sergei Gusev (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 6(0) 1
Nir Klinger (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 6(0) 1
Amir Turgeman (Hapoel Haifa) 6(0)
Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 6(2) 1
******************************************************
Roman Filipchuk (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 5(0)
Istvan Salloi (Beitar Jerusalem) 5(0)
Nissim Avitan (Hapoel Tel-Aviv) 5(0)
Najouan Grayib (Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) 5(1) 2
Sergei Kandaurov (Maccabee Haifa) 5(1) 1
Ronen Harazi (Beitar Jerusalem) 5(1) 1
******************************************************
Haim Revivo (Maccabee Haifa) 4(0) 1
Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 4(0) 1
Yaniv Avvargeal (Beitar Tel-Aviv) 4(0)
Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Haifa) 4(0)
Eli Driks (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 4(1) 1
Sahar Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 4(1)
NOTE - the penalties scored are put in brackets. The last
column means the number of goals scored this week.
NEXT ROUND (in a fortnight):
| Hosts | Guests |
| Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1) | Maccabee Herzliya (9) |
| Beitar Jerusalem (2) | Hapoel tsafririm Holon (15) |
| Hapoel Beit-Shean (11) | Maccabee Haifa (3) |
| Hapoel Haifa (4) | Maccabee Yaffa (10) |
| Beitar Tel-Aviv (13) | Hapoel Tel-Aviv (5) |
| Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (6) | Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (12) |
| Hapoel Kefar-Saba (16) | Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (7) |
| Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (14) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva (8) |
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