Raz Amir
Patrick Van Leven (Radad Jabara)
Maccabi Tel Aviv will meet Hapoel Haifa tonight (Tuesday, 20:45) in the eighth finals of the State Cup. The Yellows will hope to bring the excellent momentum from the league to the cup as well and beat Haim Sylves’ team on the way to the quarterfinals. Ahead of the game, coach Patrick Van Leven and player Avi Riken spoke at a press conference.
Van Leven said: “It’s a different factory so also the atmosphere is different, it gets more interesting from time to time. The fact that it’s a knockout? It’s not that I need to prepare differently, but for me I need to update the players to be aware that there are no opportunities to fix and to be focused on winning the game. Hapoel Haifa is a team that wants to play football, we love such teams and it will be a nice game. We prepare like for any team and every game, the players know that it is a trophy and that the atmosphere is different, as in any country. “
Avi Reikan He added: “The struggles in the league should be put aside. This is a cup game that needs to be prepared for in all seriousness because it is important to the club and to us the players. We want to go through a stage and reach the peak of readiness because there is no easy game in the cup, as we have come to know in recent years. A stubborn opponent awaits us who proved in the league a hard blow to us against him. In recent years they have shown that they can reach very high levels. Hapoel Haifa is a team that knows how to make a good way in the cup. It will be tough tomorrow but we come with a lot of confidence and a wide and hungry staff that wants to play every game. “Here is an opportunity for our guys to prove themselves.”
Audience return: “I told Itai that the crowd gate gate is no longer heard in the stadium. It’s great that the audience is back and I hope the amount will increase and we can see more faces. It’s fun to see the crowd of all the teams come back, even in away games. It gives color and it is nice and fun. We hope our audience will see us win. ”
