34 goals in 8 games (!), 3 red cards, 2 extra-times, 2 own goals and 4 penalties, one crucial kick missed - this was the great story of the last weekend. Those who were afraid the story of the 1/16 finals (67 goals in 16 games) wouldn't repeat itself, may relax and anticipate the coming 1/4 finals; those will take place at March 31st. Besides, it should be mentioned that no teams outside the National League survived this round, and those were no less than 4 (!) comebacks, one of them unforgettable for long years.

And let's start with this game - it was also the biggest surprise of the round, and it took place as a second game in Haifa. 16 minutes in the game, it was the goal pass of Miroslav Bicinic to Ronen Harazi, and the National forward passed his defender and greatly opened the score. Hapoel Haifa was much better during those minutes, but the good game of Shaul Smadja in Beer-Sheva's net prevented numerous goals from being scored during the 1st half. Still, just before the half-time, it was another Croatian penetration, this time of Goran Milenko from the right wing, and Ronen Harazi sent his 2nd goal home from 5 meters, 2:0. It looked pretty secure then Haifa would join Jerusalem in having 2 city teams in the quarterfinals.

However, the 2nd half was disastrous for the hosts. 5 minutes after the break, it was Yossi Benayoun who started showing his brilliant skill - getting the ball from Oren Sagron, he managed to pass the keeper Dudu Awwat and to roll the reducer in, 2:1. Hapoel Haifa had a great opportunity to secure the score for itself at the 53rd minute, when Liron Basis was knocked down inside the guests' box; however, Shaul Smadja registered a fantastic flight and parried the mediocre penalty shot performed by Ronen Harazi. The Israeli prominent forward was somehow broken after that miss, and Beer-Sheva somehow started believing in itself - and indeed, 8 minutes from the end of the regular time it achieved the desired equalizer. Yossi Benayoun (who else?) managed to use the mistake of Alon Halfon and to shoot a great ball from 16 meters; Awwat did the impossible and parried the ball in a great flight, but the fresh substitute Yair Simhon was the first to the rebound to push the ball in, 2:2.

The extra-time started, and somehow it became clear Beer-Sheva was better prepared mentally for the victory. And indeed, in 4 minutes the guests completed their great comeback - Yossi Benayoun managed to pass Dudu Awwat and was fouled by the keeper, Awwat was booked, all of Beer-Sheva's players gave way to their 18-years-old genius, and the boy calmly sent the ball in, 3:2. Haifa managed to equalize against all odds - seconds before the extra-time break, it was a shot of Ronen Harazi to complete his hat-trick. However, during the desperate attacks of Haifa after the break, it was Beer-Sheva with its counterattack and the surprising winner - it was again a penetration of Benayoun who passed the ball to the substitute Alon Riff, and the latter passed the keeper and rolled the ball in from 3 meters, 4:3! With 5 minutes of play left, Haifa failed to prevent Beer-Sheva's victory, and Benayoun's game, marked 9, entered the Israeli Soccer history. He is, naturally, our "Player Of The Week".

And now let's return to the game of the leaders, Hapoel Tel-Aviv - it hosted the outsiders, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, at home, and still seemed to have real problems from the very start. Just the good game of Shavit Elimelekh and his defence, as well as the misses of Yaniv Offri, left the score intact until the last minute before the break - then, Yaniv Cohen took the initiative and passed several hosts' players during his right-wing penetration, and beat Shavit Elimelekh at the end, 1:0 to Bnei-Yehuda! And still, it was Hapoel which won the game in its good 2nd half - then, the goal passes of Georgi Daraselia to Offer Shitrit (65) and Shalom Tikwa (76) finished the comeback and gave us the expected score. The team of Eli Cohen is seriously going for a double.

So, as a matter of fact, does Beitar Jerusalem, but the team of Dror Kashtan would like to forget its game against Hapoel Beit-Shean - I believe that had Beit-Shean insisted on having this game been held in Beit-Shean and not at Bloomfield, the team of Elisha Levi would've beaten the defending Champions. 11 minutes in the game, Istvan Pisont's shot was badly parried by Eitan Taib to the back of the keeper Meir Cohen and in, opening the score and reminding us of the dramatic Hungarian equalizer against Finland in the dying minutes of the WC'98 preliminary cycle. 20 minutes later, Taib himself equalized with a good free kick; Jean Talesnikov of Beitar was sent off after applausing the referee Sabi Elnekawe for one of his decisions, and the coach Dror Kashtan was sent off as well. And in the 2nd half, Beit-Shean had several good opportunities to score, but twice those were Raanan Deri (55) and Sergei Tretyak (70) who parried the ball from the line. And then, 9 minutes from the end, it was the fresh substitute Shai Holtzman who entered the game a minute beforehand in order to be fit for the extra-time - his wide ball was parried badly by Meir Cohen, Alon Harazi managed to shoot the rebound, and Avi Danan failed to clear the ball from the goal-line, 2:1 for Beitar.

And to another top team, Maccabee Haifa - in its game there was another extra-time, and the Greens looked very bad against the Country League leaders, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon. The new coach of Haifa, Daniel Brailovsky, announced recently he'd like to make Haifa a real South American team; however, yesterday it didn't look that way at all, and leaving 3 of the team's foreigners on the bench is definitely no acceptable solution. During the 2nd half, Haifa had to defend itself after having stayed in 10 players - Avishai Zhano was sent off (35) after knocking Ran Hafif down. However, Holon failed to score, and the late entrance of Vladimir Niederhaus and Ibrahim Doro as the substitutes saved the hosts' game in the extra-time. Alon Mizrahi (97) opened the score after an assist of Adoram Keisi, and when Nir Sokher (100) left his team in 10 players as well, after a foul on Niederhaus, the game was actually over. Ibrahim Doro closed it finally one minute from the end of the boring 2 hours, after a solo penetration and a good finishing shot. However, Haifa has a lot of room for improvement, and it'll better start it before it's too late.

Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, which also had its last chance to save the season in its game vs Hapoel Kefar-Saba, failed to score for more than an hour, though it was a better team. However, here the substitutes left their positive trace as well - being on the pitch for just 1 minute (!), Idan Hillel rushed into the box and finished there well the goal pass of Eli Abrabanel (66), 1:0. It seemed to stay this way until the last 2 minutes of play, when Petakh-Tikwa scored another 2 goals and therefore turned the honorable loss of Kefar-Saba to become a painful defeat. Alon Cohen sent Idan Hillel into the box from the right wing, and the latter managed to touch the ball before his guard and to send it in, 2:0 in a combination of substitutes. And during the dying seconds, it was a solo penetration of Eli Abrabanel to sign up the score, 3:0.

Having seen Eli Driks scoring from the penalty spot in Ashdod after just 5 minutes of play, the Yellow fans thought the dreadful season could be saved at least in the Cup. And wrong they were - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, having never reached the quarterfinals of the Israeli Cup before, was full of aspirations and faced a lion without any teeth. A double pass between Yossi Madar and Igal Zrihen left the former in front of Alexander Uvarov, and the midfielder had no problem to score (20); in just 3 minutes, the comeback of the hosts was completed, after Zrihen's pass to Naor Galili who pushed the ball in against the total helplessness of the guests' defence. A minute from the break, it was a back pass of Tibor Balog to Igal Zrihen who sent an unstoppable bomb from 18 meters in; 15 minutes from time, it was a payback time, when Zrihen, "The Player Of The Game", registered his 3rd goal pass, this time to Balog, 4:1. Maccabee still managed to reduce the score through the shot of its Russian substitute Alexei Gerasimov (81); and then, Eli Driks scored another penalty, but here the game ended. 4:3 to Ashdod over Tel-Aviv!

Hapoel Jerusalem, playing against the weakest team of this round, still had a lot of problems to defeat it and would've been humiliated, if not for its good 2nd half. An own goal of Ahmed Abbed (14) gave Jerusalem a lead, but a couple of Moshe Vaanunu's goals (29, 32) registered a comeback for Maccabee Ahi Nazareth and caused a shock both to the host team and its fans. However, the 2nd half of Hapoel Jerusalem very motivated - Shlomi Danino (50), Assaf Tubi (55), Salman Amar (70) and "The Man Of The Game" Chaba Horvath (73) made the score 5:2 to the hosts. 10 minutes from the end, a wounded Yossi Alpiya still managed to reduce the score for the guests before being substituted, and Nazareth left the Cup, leaving us a very positive impression nevertheless; Hapoel Jerusalem, on the other hand, continues forward.

And finally, it was the dullest game of the round in Rishon le-Zion, where the hosts managed to defeat Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa with a minimal score - after 30 minutes of play, it was the shot of Nissan Capeta after the preparation of Eyal Cohen that decided the game. In the net of Petakh-Tikwa, it was the renewed performance of Golan Malul who made several great saves.

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


HAPOEL TEL-AVIV (A,1) - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (A,13)  2:1 (0:1).
----------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Offer Shitrit (65), Shalom Tikwa (76).
Guests:   Yaniv Cohen (45).
THE BEST: Shalom Tikwa, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.


Hapoel Beit-Shean (A,14) - BEITAR JERUSALEM (A,2)  1:2 (1:1).
--------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Eitan Taib (31).
Guests:   OG (Eitan Taib, 11), Alon Harazi (81).
RED:      Jean Talesnikov, midfielder, Beitar Jerusalem, 32.
THE BEST: Alon Harazi, defender, Beitar Jerusalem.


Hapoel Haifa (A,3) - HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA (A,16)  3:4 AET (2:0, 2:2, 3:3).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Ronen Harazi (16, 45, 105).
Guests:   Yossi Benayoun (50, 94 pen), Yair Simhon (82), Alon Riff (115).
THE BEST: Yossi Benayoun, midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.
On the 53rd minute Ronen Harazi (Hapoel Haifa) missed a penalty kick - Shaul
Smadja saved.


MACCABEE HAIFA (A,4) - Hap. Tsafririm Holon (B,1)  2:0 AET (0:0, 0:0, 1:0).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Alon Mizrahi (97), Ibrahim Doro (119).
Guests:   -.
RED:      Avishai Zhano, defender, Maccabee Haifa, 35.
          Nir Sokher, defender, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, 100.
THE BEST: Arik Benado, defender, Maccabee Haifa.


HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA (A,5) - Hapoel Kefar-Saba (A,6)  3:0 (0:0).
----------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Idan Hillel (66, 89), Eli Abrabanel (90).
Guests:   -.
THE BEST: Idan Hillel, forward, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.


HAPOEL JERUSALEM (A,7) - Maccabee Ahi Nazareth (C-North,1)  5:3 (1:2).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    OG (Ahmed Abbed, 14), Shlomi Danino (50), Assaf Tubi (55),
          Salman Amar (70), Chaba Horvath (73).
Guests:   Moshe Vaanunu (29, 32), Yossi Alpiya (80).
THE BEST: Chaba Horvath, midfielder, Hapoel Jerusalem.


MACCABEE IRONI ASHDOD (A,8) - Maccabee Tel-Aviv (A,11)  4:3 (3:1).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Yossi Madar (20), Naor Galili (23), Igal Zrihen (44),
          Tibor Balog (75).
Guests:   Eli Driks (5 pen, 90 pen), Alexei Gerasimov (81).
THE BEST: Igal Zrihen, forward, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod.


HAPOEL RISHON LE-ZION (A,12) - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (A,10)  1:0 (1:0).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Nissan Capeta (30).
Guests:   -.
THE BEST: Sagi Strauss, keeper, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion.





                         THE 11 OF THE ROUND
                         -------------------
                            Shaul Smadja
                         (Hapoel Beer-Sheva)

   Rami Eliyahu       Eyal Almoshnino       Eitan Taib       Ilan Boaron
(Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Mcb. Ironi Ashdod) (Hapoel Beit-Shean) (Hapoel P.-T.)

  Chaba Horvath        Yossi Madar       Yossi Benayoun     Shalom Tikwa
(Hapoel Jerusalem) (Mcb. Ironi Ashdod) (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) (Hap. Tel-Aviv)

                          Igal Zrihen         Ronen Harazi
                    (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod)  (Hapoel Haifa)


3: Maccabee Ironi Ashdod        (League A)
3: Hapoel Beer-Sheva            (League A)
1: Hapoel Tel-Aviv              (League A)
1: Hapoel Haifa                 (League A)
1: Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa          (League A)
1: Hapoel Jerusalem             (League A)
1: Hapoel Beit-Shean            (League A)


THE BEST OF THE ROUND:  Yossi Benayoun, midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.


THE BEST CUP SCORERS:
        Ronen Harazi (Hapoel Haifa)             4     3
        Cobi Refua (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv)       4
        ***********************************************
        Moshe Vaanunu (Maccabee Ahi Nazareth)   3     2
        Yair Simhon (Hapoel Beer-Sheva)         3     1

        The second number means the number of goals scored this week.


PASSING INTO THE NEXT ROUND:
        Hapoel Tel-Aviv         (A,  1) *
        Beitar Jerusalem        (A,  2) *
        Maccabee Haifa          (A,  4) *
        Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa     (A,  5)
        Hapoel Jerusalem        (A,  7)
        Maccabee Ironi Ashdod   (A,  8)
        Hapoel Rishon le-Zion   (A, 12)
        Hapoel Beer-Sheva       (A, 16) *

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

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