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| Week 30 | Main Page | Soccer Page | 1996-97, History |
As usual, some summaries of the whole season of this year's National League are made. As usual, the ones to make them are "Yedioth Ahronoth" (YA), myself (MO), "Shirim u-Shearim" (SS) and "Ha'Daka Ha'91" (91). Hopefully, you will enjoy those summaries.
YA: Eli Ohana, forward, Beitar Jerusalem.
91: Agreed, Moti Kakun (forward, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) far behind him.
SS: Agreed.
MO: No doubt about that. Eli Ohana is flourishing again at the age of 33, bringing Beitar a Championship and breaking the record of Uri Malmilian (140 goals scored for Beitar; Ohana has now 141). With his 14 goals throughout the season, Ohana brought Beitar most of its crucial points. Besides, his goals brought the National team its important victories over Luxembourg and Cyprus at home, and he's also "The Best Cup Scorer", with 7 goals in 4 games. Siad Halilovic (midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva), Itzhak Zohar (midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem) and Moti Kakun ("The Best Scorer", forward, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) were the competitors, but Ohana won expectedly and deservedly.
YA: Eli Cohen, Beitar Jerusalem.
SS: Agreed.
91: Agreed. Nir Levin (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) far behind him.
MO: Eli Cohen. The two great competitors were Nir Levin and Eli Gutman, the latter's positions going high after winning the Cup with Hapoel Beer-Sheva against all odds.
YA: Beitar Jerusalem.
91: Agreed.
SS: Agreed.
MO: Of course, there is just one team to deserve this award - Beitar Jerusalem. Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa and Hapoel Beer-Sheva surprised for good, but couldn't be the equal rivals to Beitar Jerusalem.
SS:
Itzhak Korenfein
(Beitar Jerusalem)
Gadi Hazut Amir Shelakh Sergei Tretyak David Amsalem
(Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Siad Halilovic Itzhak Zohar Istvan Pisont Eli Abrabanel
(Hap. Beer-Sheva) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa)
Eli Ohana Moti Kakun
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa)
Beitar Jerusalem - 6.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - 2.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva - 2.
Maccabee Tel-Aviv - 1.
YA:
Itzhak Korenfein
(Beitar Jerusalem)
Gadi Hazut Gabor Marton Sergei Tretyak David Amsalem
(Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Hapoel Kefar-Saba) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Beitar Jerusalem)
(Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa)
Siad Halilovic Itzhak Zohar Yossi Abuksis Istvan Pisont
(Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Beitar Jerusalem) (Beitar Jerusalem)
Eli Ohana Moti Kakun
(Beitar Jerusalem) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa)
Beitar Jerusalem - 7.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva - 2.
Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa - 1.5 (Round 2 for Gabor Marton).
Hapoel Kefar-Saba - 0.5 (Round 1 for Gabor Marton).
MO: Definitely, the team of "Shirim u-Shearim", but with the choice of Gabor Marton over the extremely disappointing Amir Shelakh.
YA: Eyal Tsur.
SS: Eyal Tsur.
MO: No doubt, experience is still extremely important. Ben-Itzhak had several mediocre games, but he was still the best, and his decision not to whistle a foul on Salloi (see further) during the game between Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa will be remembered for years. Had more referees like him been seen in Europe, the last European Championship of 1996 wouldn't be that severely ruined. Unfortunately, this was the last season in his great refereeing career, but we'll remember for long this man who continued the great tradition of Menakhem Ashkenazi and Avraham Klein.
YA: Eli Abrabanel, midfielder, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
SS: Agreed.
91: Yaniv Offri, forward, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
MO: I would go for Yaniv Offri - Abrabanel was wonderful, but we could expect it from him after having seen a season before in the National League; Offri, on the other hand, came from Shimshon Tel-Aviv to conquer immediately the European Cups' participation. Avi Tikwa (midfielder, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv), Eran Scheinsinger (keeper, Hapoel Kefar-Saba), Idan Tal (midfielder, Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa) and Golan Deri (defender, Hapoel Beit-Shean) deserve to be mentioned honorably in this nomination.
YA: Itzhak Zohar, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem. His transfer from Maccabee Tel-Aviv turned out to be decisive both to the former and to the current team of his. Following him:
MO: Agreed. However, there were two great Petakh-Tikwa's forwards to be Zohar's rivals for the award: Yaniv Offri (Hapoel) and Offer Shitrit (Maccabee).
SS: Istvan Pisont (Hungary), midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem.
91: Agreed. Siad Halilovic (Bosnia, midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva) following closely.
YA: Siad Halilovic (Bosnia), midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva. Following him:
MO: No doubt, this is Siad Halilovic - Beer-Sheva was so different when he was on the pitch! The achievement of Beitar Jerusalem is extraordinary, but besides the 3 wonderful foreigners (Istvan Salloi and Istvan Pisont, the Hungarian midfielders, and Sergei Tretyak, the Ukrainean defender), Beitar had several other top class players to rely on (Eli Ohana, Itzhak Zohar, Itzhak Korenfein, David Amsalem, etc.); in Beer-Sheva, Siad Halilovic and his Croatian midfield partner Giovanni Rosso made the season so great, and mostly them. To be mentioned honorably - Gabor Marton (Hungarian defensive midfielder, Hapoel Kefar-Saba and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) and Sergen Culakovic (Serbian forward, Hapoel Beit-Shean).
YA: Maccabee Tel-Aviv. Maccabee Haifa following closely.
91: Agreed. Maccabee Haifa could've been there, too, but it had at least "the reason": Eyal Berkovich, Haim Revivo and Offer Shitrit left the club. The only 2 players transferred from Maccabee Tel-Aviv, on the contrary, were Itzhak Zohar and much later Nir Sevilla - and the results were disastrous for Maccabee and great for the two's new club, Beitar Jerusalem.
SS: Maccabee Haifa.
MO: Agreed with 91. I would add also Hapoel Haifa and Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
YA: Reuven Attar, midfielder, Hapoel Haifa and Maccabee Haifa. Also to be mentioned - Tal Banin (midfielder, Hapoel Haifa), Gadi Brumer (defender, Maccabee Tel-Aviv), Claudio Vorkovic (Croatia, midfielder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv).
SS: Agreed.
91: Bonnie Ginzburg, keeper, Maccabee Haifa. Attar following closely.
MO: Agreed with 91. There were several more competitors, like Alexander Uvarov (keeper, Maccabee Tel-Aviv) and Gadi Brumer (defender, Maccabee Tel-Aviv); however, Uvarov had very serious problems with his little son, and Brumer was severely injured for a certain period of time.
Here the 3 award givers (without "Shirim u-Shearim") chose quite the same list, but the places were totally different. I'll show you the list first, and I'll show the places afterwards.
01. Eli Ohana, Beitar Jerusalem, Week 02, 2:1 vs Hapoel Haifa (3:1). A wonderful header of Ohana from 12 meters above Rafi Cohen, after a corner of Itzhak Zohar.
02. Oren Sagron, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Week 05, 1:0 vs Hapoel Taibe (2:0). A magnificent flying header from 12 meters diagonally under the left crossbar of Mickey Dahan, after a penetration of Gadi Hazut at the right wing and a precise cross.
03. Avi Nimni, Maccabee Tel-Aviv, Week 05, 2:2 vs Beitar Jerusalem (3:3). A magnificent flat volley from 15 meters to the left corner of Itzhak Korenfein, in a run.
04. Siad Halilovic, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Week 07, 3:0 vs Maccabee Haifa (3:0). A wonderful foot work of Halilovic who entered the box in a slalom, passed one defender, passed Bonnie Ginzburg and finally shot with his left from a very hard angle.
05. Manor Hassan, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, Week 08, 1:1 vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1:1). A magnificent effort, stopping the ball on the chest 22 meters from the net and shooting an unstoppable right-footer from the air, going in the arch route to the right high post of Alen Mashraki and in.
06. Eli Ohana, Beitar Jerusalem, Week 09, 3:0 vs Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (3:0). A wonderful slalom, passing two defenders and rolling the ball past the stunned Shai Hess. We should emphasize also the wonderful preparation of Istvan Salloi, despite the foul that'd been committed on him.
07. Zlatko Zupatic, Hapoel Haifa, Week 10, 4:0 vs Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (4:0). A wonderful arched left-foot shot from 40+ meters, passing above the hands of Yaniv Mizrahi who was standing on the goal line (!).
08. Shmuel Levi, Beitar Jerusalem, Week 12, 3:1 vs Hapoel Tel-Aviv (4:1). A flying header of unusual beauty and might, from 10 meters, after an assist of Eli Ohana.
09. Alon Brumer, Maccabee Tel-Aviv, Week 13, 1:0 vs Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (1:0). A wonderful shot from 25 meters after a short run under the right crossbar of Sagi Strauss.
10. Ronen Harazi, Beitar Jerusalem, Week 14, 1:0 vs Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (2:0). A wonderful "English" shot in a rush from 16 meters, mightily to the left corner of Sagi Strauss at half a height.
11. Eitan Taib, Hapoel Beit-Shean, Week 14, 1:0 vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1:0). A magnificent right-footer from 30 meters under the bar of Uvarov.
12. Moti Kakun, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, Week 16, 1:0 vs Hapoel Jerusalem (3:1). A magnificent header after a pass of Beni Kozoshvili from the right wing; the curved header from 14 meters kissed the net near the post, passing out of reach of flying Jaroslav Baku.
13. Oren Sagron, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Week 17, 1:1 vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1:4). What a shot! Getting a ball from Siad Halilovic, he stopped it on the chest, raised it with his left to swing the defenders and turned to shoot an unstoppable volley bomb from 16 meters diagonally under the right crossbar of flying Alexander Uvarov!
14. Gadi Hazut, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Week 21, 1:1 vs Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (1:1). Another cool free Hazut-produced kick, from 25 meters to the wall and in, changing the direction, centimeters near the left corner of Hess. This was the last minute equalizer against the top rival.
15. Beni Kozoshvili, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, Week 23, 1:1 vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv (1:2). A wonderful curved ball under the left crossbar of Uvarov from 18 meters, with one magic touch.
16. Gabor Marton, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, Week 25, 1:0 vs Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (3:1). A magnificent volley shot from 20 meters after a corner kick, hitting the back of Nissim Cohen and penetrating to the net of Guy Nakhshon.
17. Idan Shum, Maccabee Haifa, Week 25, 1:0 vs Beitar Jerusalem (2:0). What a shot! A bomb from 30 meters diagonally under the left crossbar of Itzhak Korenfein.
18. Reuven Attar, Maccabee Haifa, Week 28, 1:0 vs Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (5:2). A great volley shot from 18 meters with his left under the left crossbar of Shai Hess, as a rebound after Hess had parried Hezi Shirazi's shot from the hard angle.
19. Gabor Marton, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, Week 28, 2:2 vs Maccabee Haifa (2:5). A tremendous volley shot from 20 meters exactly under the left crossbar of Nir Davidovich, after a corner performed by Eli Abrabanel. A definite competitor for "The Goal Of The Season".
20. Sergen Culakovic, Hapoel Beit-Shean, Week 29, 2:1 vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv (2:1). A great effort very similar to the one of Lars Ricken against Angelo Peruzzi in the Champions' League Final - shooting a bounce over the advanced keeper from 30 meters without stopping.
YA: 01. (19), Gabor Marton vs Nir Davidovich.
Following it:
91: FIRST - (06), Eli Ohana vs Shai Hess.
SECOND - (19), Gabor Marton vs Nir Davidovich.
Following those two, in no particular order:
MO: 01. (13), Oren Sagron vs Alexander Uvarov.
The other goals from "The List Of 20" above are to be honorably mentioned.
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| Week 30 | Main Page | Soccer Page | 1996-97, History |