Maccabi Tel Aviv blanks Beersheba in 1st leg of Champions Cup duel • Donis to be named coach
By JOSHUA HALICKMANGREEK GIORGOS DONIS arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport this week ahead of being named as the new coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv. (photo credit: DANNY MARON)
The Israel soccer 2020/21 season got under way this week after less than a month off with Champions Cup and Toto Cup action around the country.Maccabi Tel Aviv easily disposed of Hapoel Beersheba 2-0 in the first leg of the Champions Cup held at Teddy Stadium as the Southern Reds will have to play their home games for the time being in the capital city due to issues with the roof at Turner Stadium in Beersheba.The yellow-and-blue outplayed the hosts for the full 90 minutes as striker Nick Blackman scored a pair of goals which will carry over to Thursday night’s second leg at Bloomfield Stadium.Blackman found the back of the net in the eighth minute from the box as he pounced on Eylon Almog’s attempt to give Maccabi an early 1-0 lead. Less than a half hour later, youngster Eduardo Guerrero streaked down the flank and sent a pinpoint perfect pass that Blackman headed home for a 2-0 advantage ahead of the break.Itamar Shviro was handed a red card in the 56th minute as Yossi Abukasis’s squad played the balance of the game with only 10 men. However, the visitors couldn’t capitalize on opportunities by Dor Peretz and Yonatan Cohen as interim coach Patrick van Leeuwen’s side took the two-goal victory into the return leg.“It’s always great to win, especially today as it’s my birthday so it was a nice gift,” explained Van Leeuwen. “It’s important that we won in our first game as it gives us motivation going forward. We have a group of young players and although it’s not the final squad it’s a good chance to test them out. We still haven’t finished our preparations for our Champions League qualifiers that begin in a couple of weeks.”Abukasis reflected on the setback.“There’s nothing to take from this game,” said Beersheba’s disappointed coach. “There were very few things that we did well, especially in a horrific first half. We didn’t have any friendlies going into this game after we won the State Cup less than a month ago and we have a lot of work to do before our first European game.”Also, Maccabi Tel Aviv was drawn to face Riga at home in Champions League first-round qualifying action in a match that will take place on either August 18 or 19. Should the yellow-and-blue pass that test it will play the winner of FC Flora Tallinn from Estonia and FK Suduva of Lithuania. Hapoel Beersheba will host Dinamo Batumi from Georgia in Europa League qualifying.In other news, it’s expected that Maccabi will name Giorgos Donis as its next head coach after the 50-year-old Greek bench boss landed in Israel on Monday with his staff in order to sign a contract and take over from Vladimir Ivic, who won back to back league championships.Elsewhere, Hapoel Tel Aviv slipped by Ashdod 1-0 at the port city thanks to a first-half penalty goal by Omri Altman. Gil Cohen pulled down Altman as he made his way towards the goal in the 24th minute as the attacking midfielder then stepped up to put the ball past a helpless Roie Mishpati for the lone strike of the game.“We’re going through a difficult period of time,” said Hapoel coach Nir Klinger. “I hope that we will bring in some players that we are missing ahead of the league campaign. We had a tough time preparing so far because we had a number of players who had been in quarantine.”Meanwhile, Maccabi Netanya defeated Hapoel Kfar Saba 3-0 to give brand new head coach Raymond Atteveld his first win with the club.Hen Ezra used his left foot to slot home the opening strike thanks to a Yonas Malede cross. Malede was instrumental in Netanya’s second goal as he sent a through ball to Aviv Avraham, who scored to give the hosts a 2-0 lead in the 50th minute.Thirty minutes later Gabi Kanichowsky was yanked down in the box and Malede – who had set up the first two goals – scored a perfect spot kick from 11 meters to wrap up an all-star performance and the win.“After a 3-0 win, I’m happy with the result,” said Atteveld. “We try to play intense football when we don’t have the ball and we pressure the opponent. When we do have the ball we try to speed up the game and take advantage. It’s early in the season and we still have to get better.”The Barak Bachar era at Maccabi Haifa started off on the right foot as the Greens downed Ironi Kiryat Shmona 1-0 in the northern capital. Ofri Arad’s ninth-minute header thanks to Muahammed Awad pass gave Haifa the win.“This was our first game after two weeks of practice,” said Bachar. “There were some good things that we were able to do and we started the game off well. We will do everything we can to strengthen the team in the correct places and we will only bring in new players if it can upgrade the squad.”Maccabi Haifa was also drawn to face FK Zeljeznicar from Bosnia at home in Europa League qualifying.Beitar Jerusalem and Bnei Yehuda played to a goalless draw as Levi Garcia picked up what looked to be a hamstring injury for the yellow-and-black leading to some serious concern within the club.“There is certainly some serious concern due to the injury,” explained Beitar coach Roni Levy. “Levi is an important player for us and we’re hoping that he is not too badly hurt.”Jerusalem was drawn against Teuta Durrës and will travel to Albania for Europa League qualifying.Bnei Sakhnin made sure that its Israel Premier comeback was a successful one as it blanked Hapoel Haifa 2-0.In their first game back in the top flight after spending last season in the Leumit League, Eldad Shavit’s squad used a third-minute Ataa Jabar goal and a gorgeous Ihab Shami second-half volley from 25 meters out to take the victory.“I’m proud of our young guys who will be the base of this team,” said a content Shavit. “However, we will have more experienced players added to the roster who will be able to complement the current squad.”Maccabi Petah Tikva and Hapoel Hadera played to a 1-1 draw at the Moshava Stadium.Roie Ronen gave Petah Tikva a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute as he jumped on an error by the Hadera defense to give his squad the lead. However, less than a minute later Asi Guma headed home the equalizer as the squads split the points.
