Local soccer: Luzon named new Mac Petah-Tikva coach

Guy Luzon returns to Petah Tikva just eight months after leaving to coach Hapoel Tel Aviv.

By ALLON SINAI
Guy Luzon returned to Maccabi Petah Tikva on Sunday, just eight months after leaving to coach Hapoel Tel Aviv. Luzon, who guided Petah Tikva to a second place finish in the 2004/05 season and took the team to the UEFA Cup group stage the following year, failed miserably at Hapoel, winning just once in 10 league matches before being pushed out in November. The catastrophe in Tel Aviv didn't deter Petah Tikva, which is owned by Luzon's uncles, and he was signed to a three-year contract on Sunday after coach Ofer Fabian resigned earlier in the day. "I hadn't planned to return to coaching this season," Luzon said. "I hoped that Fabian would do well and that the team would succeed, but when club chairman Shino Zuaretz called me and said the club needs me back there could only be one answer. I can't say no to Petah Tikva." Yossi Mizrahi replaced Luzon at Petah Tikva in the summer, but he left the team at the start of November after receiving a lucrative offer from Cypriot side Apollon Limassol. Fabian, who was Luzon's and Mizrahi's assistant, took charge, but could only manage two wins in his nine matches as coach. "Guy was appointed as coach only because I believe he's the right man for the job," Zuaretz said on Sunday. "If I wouldn't have thought that Luzon is a good coach he wouldn't be here."