Captain Sheran Yeini is host Lior Timor’s guest on the latest edition of Maccabi-Cast prior to the Match of the Season at Hapoel Beer Sheva:
“It’s great to be back and life is good in Tel Aviv. The club is fantastic and I’m happy to be back.”
It’s an important match:
“At the end of the day, we have to win the match and we can’t lose any points. Of course, there is extra pressure and responsibility in this game and I even feel that on the streets when people come over to me and tell me, make sure and win. I tell them you don’t want to wish us luck? Then we usually have a bit of a conversation. Everyone is excited.”
Cutting the gap:
“It’s a tough match and we cut the gap from 11 to just 3 points and if we drop it to zero points that will give us an even bigger push. We want to fight for this title and win the championship, so this is just one more match towards that goal.”
The last few matches:
“I think we had 2-3 matches that we weren’t as good and then we had a very good match when we won 3:0. We had some very good minutes for long stretches of the game and we scored some quality goals so we are coming into the match in good shape.”
Satisfied with a draw?
“We aren’t coming into this match thinking about a draw. During the course of the match we will have to see how it is playing out. We are looking to win this game.”
How do you see Maccabi right now and not the one you came back to in January:
“I see Maccabi Tel Aviv with a lot of character and one that is very hard to play against. It’s tough to score against us and we are always dangerous on the attack. Any club that is going to play against us will be in for a tough time.”
Becoming Captain again:
“Gal Alberman didn’t even speak to me about it. We went to a training session in pretty bad weather and he had a jacket on with the captain’s armband on underneath so I wouldn’t see. I said to my teammates that I am back and that I’m here to help as much as possible. He then said that he had something of mine and he handed me over the armband. I felt so good, I wasn’t even thinking about it. We have been very close even when I was in Holland and I know that we can help the team together.”
The small details:
“Right now we are concentrating on all of the small details and when you do one small thing and another small thing it helps the outlook of the big picture.”
About the title battle:
“Hapoel Beer Sheva is a good club and that is not only good for the Israeli League but also for us as it makes us push ourselves even harder. The minute that we are behind them then we are pushing hard and vice versa if they were behind us. It’s really a head to head battle. It makes the league even more interesting and it helps us want to be even better and better.”
Every contest is critical:
“Every single match is important for us and can be decisive, whether it was the match against Ashkelon or against Sakhnin. I don’t remember a match that hasn’t been critical. When we get to next week’s match it will also be crucial and there’s no difference to us. We have to win and they have to win as well.”
Eitan Tibi’s injury and where he will play on Saturday:
“Eitan Tibi is a great player and he will be missed. But we also have some good players who can take his place. I’ll play wherever the professional staff wants me to play.”
