All Entries Tagged With: "sport"
Champions League glory (ahem…) awaits Hapoel Tel Aviv!
OK, so a little less of the glory. Let’s just say if they grab a point and score a goal or two they’ll have done OK. Or at least better than last year’s Israeli effort, from Maccabi Haifa, who didn’t grab one single point or score one little goal.
Thursday’s draw for the Champions League groups stages, which Hapoel Tel Aviv have reached for the first time in their history, saw them draw Lyon, Benfica and Schalke. Not the biggest of the European giants they could have ended up with, but still tough, tough games.
We wish ‘em luck!
Eyal Berkovic for PM!
So, Eyal Berkovic won’t be the Israeli national team coach, despite a passionate and somewhat cheap attempt at bullying the Israeli football authorities into hiring him. Eyal’s best efforts were saved for a recent press conference, where he loudly and proudly staked his claim for the job. Apparently it fell on deaf ears, as this week saw the appointment of Luis Fernandez (who?), a Frenchman who has previously coached Beitar Jerusalem, one of Israel’s leading club sides, and had some success on the continent in his early days as a manager.
My opinion: he should have got the job. OK, some might think he’s a bit of a little squirt (as his old rival Eli Ohana, who also played in Europe, put it “a small man with a big mouth”), but let’s face it, Israeli football isn’t going anywhere fast and at least the guy has some passion. Quite a chunk of the Israeli public was also behind him, but seriously, who thought he’d actually get the job?
With that job gone, perhaps Eyal will throw his hat into the ring for the next elections? He’s got the mouth, the chutzpah, hell yeah, even the criminal record - Eyal Berkovic for PM!
Holy Moses! Israeli footballer in line for FIFA Goal of the Year award!
OK, we know that Israeli football generally sucks (please don’t mention Maccabee Haifa’s dismal showing in the Champions League; 6 matches, no points and not even one, single goal), but look at this video below and you might think otherwise…
Oh yes, that is a real cracker of a goal! So damn fine it’s made it into FIFA’s final list of ten candidates for goal of 2009! Wow, not sure the guy that scored that goal, Eliran Atar, ever thought he’d be keeping company with stars like Ronaldo and Torres, but well done me old china!
FIFA’s Top Ten goals of 2009 are here. Don’t forget to vote for Eliran!
Red (Hapoel Tel Aviv) is the color!
Last night saw a glorious night for Israeli football, in contrast to the recent dark days of World Cup failure and disappointment on the Champions League stage with Maccabi Haifa. Hats off to Hapoel Tel Aviv, they faced a tricky home match against Rapid Vienna, but ran out very convincing 5-1 winners. An Israeli side beating fairly decent European competition 5-1 - what the heck?
Whatever the future holds for Hapoel Tel Aviv in Europe this season, I’m just happy Lala got on the scoresheet again last night. He’s going to be a headline writer’s dream, you mark my words!
“Lala makes it another Tinky Winky night in Europe for Tel Aviv!”
“Lala turns Benfica into Po”
Hapoel Tel Aviv in Lala-land!
Sorry, couldn’t resist that one.
It’s been a fairly bleak couple of weeks on the Israeli football scene, what with the national team throwing away any chance of qualifying for next year’s World Cup and Maccabi Haifa getting stuffed by Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
But tonight, Hapoel Tel Aviv played Celtic in their first round of Europa League matches. And pulled off a nice little result that’ll keep their chances alive of progressing to the next round. The Scots went ahead after 25 minutes, but hats off to Tel Aviv, they fought back to equalize and then claimed a late, late winner through Maaran Lala.
OK, Celtic aren’t the force they were a couple of years back, but still carry with them a big European reputation. And with the Celtic management putting the blame on the Tel Aviv heat, Celtic fans have already voiced their thoughts on the match on football forums, including this disgruntled fan on the BBC:
I cannot believe that one of the poorest teams I have ever seen at this level only had to put in a half decent 45 minutes to put us away…
Maccabi Haifa play German giants Bayern Munich tonight!
After last week’s dismal performance from the Israeli national team (they got beaten at home by Latvia which effectively killed off the slim chances they had of qualifying for next years’ World Cup in South Africa), it’s now down to Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League to restore some pride.
The Israeli national team has never looked good at the best of times, with only the odd game bringing some much needed pride and, yes, even points. Unfortunately, every two years it’s the same story: Israelis are left dreaming of what might have been as another qualifying campaign comes to a grinding halt…
Now it’s down to club level and perhaps just that little more suspense (because, come on, you know what’s going to happen with the national team…). I even tried to get tickets for this game but you have to be a “real” fan (and suffer like the rest of them ALL season) to get your hands on a ticket. My wife’s nephews are going thanks to some “connections”, me, I’ll catch some of the game on TV…
Can Maccabi get something from this game? Maybe.
Will the trickery of Ribery be too much for them? Probably.
Will the renowned organizational skills of a German team be a deciding factor? Almost certainly.
Will falafel poisoning leave the German team feeling manky? Let’s hope so.
Is there just a teeny weeny chance that Israeli footie fans might be smiling after the game? I really hope so…
But, my prediction: Haifa 1 Bayern 2 (sorry guys…)
Maccabi Haifa face Bayern Munich, Juventus, and Bordeaux!
Following Maccabi Haifa’s great result on Tuesday night, when they made it through to the group stages of the European Champions League for the first time in seven years, you might be stoked to find out that they’ll be facing the might of Bayern Munich, Juventus, and Bordeaux. Oh yes, Bayern Munich, Juventus, and Bordeaux, coming soon to a Holy Land near you!
As it looks now, you’ve got to say that the draw has not been kind, but then again, were Maccabi Haifa ever going to stand a really good chance of making it through to the second round? Anyway, we say good luck to them! Their first Champions League game is on September 15 (at the Ramat Gan stadium, and not in Haifa), against four-time European Champions Bayern Munich, so I guess that’ll give us a good indication of whether they can do something special this year…
Whatever happens, we’ll just be happy to see some top class footie round these parts. Can’t wait.
European glory nights coming soon to an Israeli soccer stadium near you!
A big congrats to Maccabi Haifa, who last night qualified for the group stages of the European Champions League. A 3-0 home win over FC Salzburg meant a 5-1 aggregate result, and in the end, quite a comfortable ticket through to the luxurious stages of the elite European competition. Luxurious in so much that Maccabi Haifa stand to pull in some 12 million Euros over the next few weeks, which in Israeli footballing terms is a huge amount of money.
It’s only the second time an Israeli team has ever qualified for the group stages, the first being back in 2002, when, yes, you guessed it, Maccabi Haifa had its moment of glory (including a very glorious and fondly remembered victory over Manchester United). Hopefully this year Maccabi Haifa can do the unthinkable and get enough points to squeeze through to the second round…naahhh, that’s getting too cheeky!
I actually almost went to the game; my brother-in-law had tickets but not a spare one. A phone call that would have indicated he’d managed to buy an extra ticket from a tout never materialized, so I watched most of the game on TV.
Despite my dislike of local football (really, sometimes watching paint dry is more entertaining) this game caught my imagination and interest. I can’t say it was for all the right reasons; if I’m totally honest it’s probably down to my hoping that Arsenal get drawn in the same group as Maccabi Haifa and I get a chance to see my boys (in red) live and kicking in the Holy Land.
Come the draw for the groups, I might well get my wish…but in the meantime, once again, congrats Maccabi Haifa!
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