When Goodswe Donio joined Maccabi Haifa as a sixth foreigner and partner as a substitute for 19 minutes against Tottenham, there were quite a few people who raised an eyebrow. The offender had difficulty with a few simple actions and it seemed that any connection between him and football did not really work out and is in line with the other foreign players who came to Haifa’s green side this year – Jose Rodriguez and Bogdan Planic. Even the games in which he partnered for episodes later, in order to give Nikita Rokavica some rest, did not really improve the image of the African striker.
The big turning point came when Donio opened, for the first time this season, against Bnei Yehuda in Sami Ofer. The 26-year-old detective demonstrated activism and wanted to prove there was someone to trust. He “stole” a ball under pressure under Dan Mori’s nose and scored a great goal, which paved the way for Maccabi Haifa’s victory in that game. This gate was only the first swallow for the following.
While quite a few fans were under a lot of pressure regarding the question of what will happen if and when Rokavica is injured and who will replace him? Maccabi Haifa were not really excited and were in no hurry to bring in another striker. This was because at least in training Donio continued to deliver the goods and waited patiently for his opportunity, which arrived faster than expected.
Rokavica was injured, the heart of the fans missed a few beats, but Donio took the chance with both hands, and feet, and since then does not stop allowing, and every goal – in color. The big bang for him came in the derby against Hapoel Haifa, when he scored with a smart and flat ball to the corner of Ran Kadosh and also added another close one, but unfortunately it was disputed in a controversial way. Donio has excellent power. He scored five goals in a short time, four in the league and one in the cup, and with such a valleying ability he created healthy headaches for Barak Bachar, as soon as Rokavica returned to the rotation.
The legendary pioneer of Maccabi Haifa and the king of all-time Premier League goals, Mizrahi Oak, Provided his opinion regarding the striker: “Recently Donio has been playing whole games because Rokavica is injured. If I analyze Donio until now, let’s say he is not the type of striker who will take Maccabi Haifa and bring it to the championship. Unlike Rokavica, he is not the player to carry the team on his shoulders. Rokavica can not play well for eighty minutes and in one minute decide a game, there are differences between them. Donio depends a lot on the other line that should provide him with balls, he is not the type of player who initiates a move to score a goal. So far Donio scores and does a good job, but let’s say “I have to build the attack from the beginning of the season, so I am not building on him. Donio is a complementary striker, but not one who will lead a big club to the championship.”
In Haifa, it is said that Donio arrived following a follow-up of the scouting system led by Gal Alberman. For four months the club analyzed and followed the offender, until he came to sign. The goal was for his arrival to be a replacement for Rokavica when needed, and without Barak Bachar having to change his style of play. Donio is a quiet player who respects everyone. An intelligent guy who works very hard and even in the days he did not get credit did not say a word and continued to work hard. In January Bnei Yehuda went at him with all their might but Bachar insisted on leaving him and today we reap the rewards, especially when Rokavica was injured and late missing More because of the corona virus, “the team complimented the genius.
In terms of dry data compared to Rokavica, Donio has recorded 542 minutes so far (compared to Nikita’s 2,006 minutes). The defender, who is characterized as a striker who also works hard on the defensive side and in fights against the defensive players, wins 42% of his defensive fights and he bothers the defense 6.14 times per game on average, compared to 2.92 on the Australian side. In addition, 54% of his kicks go to the frame while with Rokavica this figure is a little higher with 62%.
Haifa football commentator, Itzik Aharonovitch, Shared his opinion of the striker: “At the beginning of his career in the team there was a hidden rabbi over the open about Donio. It was hard to know how to digest him and what his real role was on the pitch. In the first game Donio played 20 minutes when Nikita played as a central striker. Donio was half right, he did things “Good, kicked to goal and was active. Later it seemed that Donio was not really connected to football. His movement was less good and he got confused with his legs, but there was a reason for that and it was because he played on the wing and not in his original role as a goal scorer.”
“On the line he completely failed. He has excellent movement in depth, he has a second thought in movement but when you are in the shadow of Rokavica it is difficult to express, what’s more his confidence was not in heaven “, Aharonovich explains and concludes:” In the end Donio got credit, opened against Bnei Yehuda and scored Great with great technique. Although not counted later because of Rokavica’s success, he waited patiently and when the Australian vacated due to injury, it could be found that he is a central striker with high technique in front of goal and his movement with and without a ball is excellent. Beyond that, it could be seen that he also shares the attacking players and even participates in free kick exercises, as happened in the game against KS. Demonstrated how much thought and orientation he has in the field and how to get to the right time and place. Donio turns out to be a surprising striker for everything. “
