Doron Ben Dor
Noble Omar thanks the audience (Omri Stein)
Maccabi Haifa, in one of its better games this season, yesterday (Wednesday) managed Sami Ofer to make a comeback and beat Maccabi Petah Tikva 1: 2 on the way to the quarterfinals of the cup. Coach Barak Bachar won compliments for managing his game and especially for being 1: 0 behind. He did not hesitate to make two substitutions at the break, when he put in a noble Omar and Neta Lavie who were among the causes of the upheaval.
The Greens played for the first time this season in front of 1,500 of their fans who were allowed to enter and were more purposeful, showcasing Noble who won a double at full strength: “It was a star show. This is a player who makes a difference, the crowd is in love with him,” the team said.
Noble was not the only one who garnered compliments yesterday. Maccabi Haifa also mentions Muhammad Abu Fani, who played an excellent game, especially in the second half, Dolev Haziza, who becomes an X Factor in every game, but especially Rami Gershon, who this year managed to play in the league for only 11 minutes. Yesterday throughout 90 minutes of his position as a left defender in place of the yellowed San Menachem, Gershon did not make a single mistake and was the most stable player at the back.
The decision to prefer Gershon over Taleb Twataha who practiced on the eve of the game was due to the fact that Twataha was not one hundred percent qualified. Gershon is highly regarded mainly due to his personality. Bachar’s message to his trainees that a player who comes in well, will train hard and in all seriousness and will not make faces even when he is not playing, will receive credit.
While there are players who provide the goods and make the team particularly attractive, it is clear that a number of players such as Nikita Rokavica and Yannick Wildshot are having a hard time getting back to themselves. Chiron Sherry is also not at his peak yet but the Green Club believes that towards the last straight of the playoffs all or most of the players will return to playing fitness and help the team win the goals it has set for itself.
By the way, the one who replaced Rokavica in the second half and was good and active is Goodsway Donio, who is expected to receive credit against Maccabi Netanya. Rokavica, who until his injury was the “hot” player in the league, is expected to continue in the coming years at the Green Club, and thus the option of moving back abroad will be definitively dropped from the chapter.
San Menachem is expected to return to the squad against Netanya and who will be missing from the squad with the opening of the first round of the playoffs will be Bogdan Planic, who received the fifth yellow yesterday, which will ensure the brake is available for the team in the second round of the playoffs against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Additional teams (three from the national) will know against whom they will be drawn in the quarterfinals in the afternoon.
