M: Adoram Keisi (60), Alon Mizrahi (78, 90).

P: Nicola Ouedec (73), Augustine Okocha (87).

M.: Nir Davidovich 6; Avishai Zhano 7.5 (RED, 90), Alon Harazi 7, Arik Benado 7, Eliran Elkayam 6.5, Adoram Keisi 7; Offir Koppel 6.5, Yossi Benayoun 7.5 (Shuki Nagar, 90), Ibrahim Doro 6.5 (Yaniv Katan, 76), Radovan Romatko 7; ALON MIZRAHI 8 (Guy Melamed, 90).

P: Bernard Lama 5; Dino Algerino 4.5, Alain Goma 5, Rabesandratana 5.5, Laspalles 4.5; Igor Yanovskiy 6 (Claude LeRoy, 76), Dicrois 5, Franc Lachuer 4 (Patrice Loko, 86), Augustine Okocha 6; Marco Simone 6, Nicolas Ouedec 5.

AUDIENCE: 14.000, Kiryat-Eliezer, Haifa.

REFEREE: Messe Bernard (Belgium).

3:2, and once more against the French side; 3:2, and again the players from Haifa; 3:2, and again Bernard Lama to concede the last goal; 3:2, and again in the injury time... Israel officially turned to be the French nightmare, or so it seems. Yesterday, in a fantastic performance, the Greens led twice, and twice the millionaires of PSG equalized the score, the last time just 3 minutes from the end of the regular time. 2 minutes in the injury time, when the Greens desperately needed a goal, the whole stadium stood up and pushed the team forward. 5 minutes in the injury time, after the final whistle, a shock and a deep grief covered the face of Alain Giresse, one of the hero players of my childhood... The team he coaches won't go on with the European struggles. Maccabee will.

During the 1st half, nothing could give us a feeling of a heartbreaking drama that was about to happen. Maccabee Haifa needed just a nil draw and tried to attack sometimes, but was pretty unsuccessful in those attempts; PSG, on the other hand, was much more dangerous, especially due to the fantastic Nigerian striker Augustine Okocha and the Italian forward Marco Simone, as well as the Russian attacking defender Igor Yanovskiy. After one of those attacks, Okocha managed to run away from Arik Benado and to release a beautiful shot, parried superbly by Nir Davidovich (25).

15 minutes into the 2nd half, the score was opened, and with what a goal! Ibrahim Doro passed the ball to Radovan Romatko inside the French box, and the Czech forward in his best game in Haifa headed the ball over the stretched hands of Bernard Lama to his crossbar. The ball came back into the box, and Adoram Keisi performed a fantastic Negrete-style side scissors kick from 7 meters diagonally. In the game he'd like to forget, Bernard Lama didn't react properly to such an improvization and let the ball pass near his falling body. 1:0.

The stadium was in ecstasy, but it took Shlomo Sherf only 13 minutes to become desperate - in the period when his first National keeper, Rafi Cohen, has a very hard time in Maccabee Tel-Aviv, he saw his second keeper mistaking as well. Augustine Okocha sent another fantastic ball of his to Nicolas Ouedec, and the latter ran away from a defender and shot from the edge of the box to the middle of the net. Davidovich, who was precisely positioned, saw the ball going into his hands ... and failed to hold it tight or to parry it aside. 1:1, and the extra-time seemed real and very infuriating.

In a brilliant tactical decision, the old fox Dusan Uhrin sent the young and quick Yaniv Katan to the pitch instead of the tired and relatively slow Ibrahim Doro. 2 minutes on the pitch, Katan made the stadium roar again. Romatko passed the ball to Yossi Benayoun (any words to describe this genius would be redundant), and the latter found Yaniv Katan quickly at the left wing. Katan thought for a second, then pulled his guard over with him towards the line and managed to release a perfect pass to the keeper's box. Alon Mizrahi, who by then wasn't offside due to Katan's mastermove, used the touch of the one and only to throw the ball over the hesitant Bernard Lama to his far corner. 2:1. No extra-time, just to keep the score! Just 12 more minutes!

The French team, humiliated however it was, didn't intend to give up. It would've been humiliating enough for the glorious team to pass the Israeli rival on an away goal, but this was the immediate purpose Alain Giresse's players looked for. And they managed to fulfill their dream 3 minutes from time, when Marco Simone penetrated at the right wing through the 2 defenders and managed to release the pass to Okocha who rolled the ball back home. 2:2.

The stadium and the commentators felt a huge frustration, but there was still time. And indeed, those were the 7 minutes (altogether with the injury time) that will be never forgotten, both in Haifa and in Paris. The belief somehow returned to the audience, and it never left the players. Even not on the 88th minute, when a superb pass of Yaniv Katan found a superb header of Alon Mizrahi, which beat Lama but hit the crossbar.

In the unforgettable game of Israel in Parc des Princes 5 years ago, it was Ronnie Rosenthal who participated in building all the 3 goals; yesterday, it was Radovan Romatko in a truly magnificent performance. 2 minutes in the injury time, Yossi Benayoun got the ball from Katan and with a touch of genius arched the ball over the French defence to Alon Mizrahi who penetrated into the box before Alain Goma. Mizrahi made another step, raised his head and tried either to shoot the ball to the far corner of Lama or to pass it to Romatko who was standing not far away. The ball hit the leg of Goma and arched in a difficult trajectory towards the far corner of Lama. The French keeper tried to perform one of his famous acrobatic flights, but couldn't fully stretch, as Romatko caught a proper position and accompanied the ball to the right destination with both his eyes and his protective body. He was also the first one to throw his hands into the air, giving the sign for celebrations that Haifa didn't know even after the victory over Torpedo Moscow 5 years ago. 3:2!

The Belgian referee wasn't fully content with the celebrations and added some more stressful minutes, during which the fantastic Avishai Zhano made a rude and redundant foul on Claude LeRoy and saw a justified red card. However, even this red card that will be significant in the next round, as well as the suspension of Arik Benado and Yossi Benayoun, couldn't spoil the orgasmic joy that swept the city of Haifa. Uhrin finally reached the standards of Spiegel. Another Israeli team passed the European round which wasn't preliminary, and it was once again Maccabee Haifa. Great job!

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