9 goals, 3 penalties and an awful refereeing performance of Dani Koren - this was the story of the Cup semifinals. Beitar Jerusalem had to part from the nice dream of the Double, and Maccabee Tel-Aviv has a wonderful chance to be in Europe again - the statistics show that the Yellows of Avraham Grant love very much to play against Hapoel Beer-Sheva. So, either Nir Klinger or Shai Holtzman will meet the President Ezer Weitzman after the game between the two teams of those Captains in the Cup Final.

The start of the game between Maccabee Tel-Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem was of the future Champions - Eli Ohana and Itzhak Zohar were blocked inside the box without any reaction of Dani Koren. This was just the beginning of the awful (and it may be even said, one-sided) refereeing to follow. After 15 minutes of play, the double pass of Haim Hageage and Avi Nimni caused Jean Talesnikov to slide to Hageage's legs; this was no actual foul, just a collision, but Dani Koren showed immediately to a penalty spot. Avi Nimni was there to shoot calmly in from 11 meters, 1:0.

Beitar had an opportunity to equalize, but Alexander Uvarov flew well to parry the free kick of Itzhak Zohar from under the bar. And then came the beginning of the 2nd half. Guy Nakhman managed to pass the ball into the box (48), Korenfein failed to defeat Klinger in the air fight, and Domagio Kosic shot from inside the box a ball that hit the hand of Talesnikov. Koren had no doubts when he showed Talesnikov a red card and ordered another penalty kick, both decisions deeply mistaken since this was no actual intention of Talesnikov to handplay the ball. And again, Nimni was there to score another goal and to sign the final score of the game, 2:0.

An awful refereeing definitely helped Maccabee Tel-Aviv, but this fact doesn't have to do anything with the actual skills of Beitar and Maccabee. Maccabee was much better than the future Champions, and showed one of its best games during this season; Nimni, Gadi Brumer, Hageage, Klinger and Uvarov were just wonderful. On the other hand, Beitar didn't find its usual way of playing, and in the game of "make or break" like the Cup game is, it may be (and finally was) crucial.

Liran Strauber and Aharon Siton, the keeper and the defender of Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, returned to play after a long absence, and probably weren't prepared enough for the game of this scale. After 28 minutes of play, Siton passed the ball back to Strauber who collected it into both hands; an indirect free kick from within the box was awarded, and Gadi Hazut shot it in after the preparation of Siad Halilovic. Just before the break, Liron Basis made it 2:0 with a flat shot from inside the box, deflecting from one of the defenders. And 6 minutes after the break, it was Shai Holtzman to head it home and to make the score 3:0.

Since this moment, both teams managed to score 2 goals each. Amir Avigdor reduced the score with a flat shot without stopping (60), after a goal pass of Avi Tikwa; and in another 6 minutes, Alon Mizrahi scored from the penalty spot after he himself had been knocked down inside the box. However, Bnei-Yehuda wasn't decisive enough to press Beer-Sheva to its net, and Eli Gutman made "The Substitution Of The Game", bringing Sharon Avitan in and taking Shai Holtzman out to give him the deserved applauses. Avitan, entering the game after 83 minutes of play, managed to score twice (!) - first, it was his flat shot past Liran Strauber after a great goal pass of Siad Halilovic (86), and later on, it was his marvellous personal effort during the last minute. Avitan made a fool out of Aharon Siton, passed also Yuval Naim and had no problems against Liran Strauber. The son of the legendary Shalom Avitan helped Hapoel Beer-Sheva to enter the final game for the first time in more than 15 years; Bnei-Yehuda, on the other hand, lost the European place in the Cup semifinals for the 2nd consecutive year in a really embarrassing performance.

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 In brackets you can see the League of the team and its current place there.
*****************************************************************************


MACCABEE TEL-AVIV (A,5) - Beitar Jerusalem (A,1)  2:0 (1:0).
-------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Avi Nimni (15 pen, 49 pen).
Guests:   -.
RED:      Jean Talesnikov, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem, 48.
THE BEST: Avi Nimni, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.


HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA (A,3) - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (A,9)  5:2 (2:0).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Gadi Hazut (28), Liron Basis (45), Shai Holtzman (51),
          Sharon Avitan (86, 90).
Guests:   Amir Avigdor (60), Alon Mizrahi (66 pen).
THE BEST: Dudu Heffer, midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.





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

    Gadi Hazut          Gadi Brumer       Sharon Bukhnik       Shimon Biton
(Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Mcb. Tel-Aviv) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva)

  Nir Klinger       Siad Halilovic         Avi Nimni          Dudu Heffer
(Mcb. Tel-Aviv)   (Hapoel Beer-Sheva)   (Mcb. Tel-Aviv)   (Hapoel Beer-Sheva)

                      Offer Mizrahi        Shai Holtzman
                   (Maccabee Tel-Aviv)  (Hapoel Beer-Sheva)


6: Hapoel Beer-Sheva    (League A)
5: Maccabee Tel-Aviv    (League A)


THE BEST OF THE ROUND:  Avi Nimni, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.


THE BEST CUP SCORERS:
        Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem)            7
        Avi Nimni (Maccabee Tel-Aviv)           5(3)  2(2)
        Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv)     5(3)  1(1)


PASSING INTO THE NEXT ROUND:
        Hapoel Beer-Sheva       (A,  3)
        Maccabee Tel-Aviv       (A,  5)	*

* - the teams that had also participated in the final a year ago.

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