After finding their training sessions repeatedly interrupted by the warning sirens heard across the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, the Maccabi Tel Aviv squad held their practice today at training grounds in Netanya. In an exclusive interview with the official Maccabi website, defender Omer Vered explains: "We reassured the foreign players"
The Maccabi Tel Aviv squad today moved their training camp northwards to the brand new training grounds in Netanya in order to get themselves beyond the range of the current barrage of missiles from Gaza. After a day off head coach Oscar Garcia's men returned to training in preparation for this coming Saturday's match against Hapoel Ramat Hasharon at the local Grundman Stadium at 8 P.M. With the exception of striker Gael Margulies and defender Reef Peretz, both recovering from injury and training beyond the touchline, the entire squad participated in the practice. Before the session, striker Robert Earnshaw and midfielder Gonzalo Garcia talked to the media about the security situation and about their feelings as foreign players caught up in Israel's complicated geopolitical circumstances.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdlrnU1Y-9U
Uruguayan midfielder Garcia had this to say: "Most of the time I feel fine in Tel Aviv, but obviously when you see those missiles in the air it makes you feel uncomfortable, without question for the locals, but also for those of us who are unaccustomed to things like this. I knew there were things like this in the past but I never believed it would happen while I was here. When you come to Israel you know there's always a chance something like this might happen, but of course you hope it won't. Right now I'm not thinking of leaving, it looks to me like everything is under control, but of course if things get worse and we stop playing altogether I don't know how I'll react".
The Zambian-born Welsh international Robert Earnshaw felt a little less comfortable with the situation but wished to remain optimistic: "It's been difficult dealing with the situation the last few days and getting used to what's going on. I was afraid of what might happen but we tried to stay strong and cope with this problematical situation".
Defender Omer Vered, who talked to Maccabi's official website, also spoke of his feelings about the situation and told of how he and his Israeli teammates reassured the foreign players: "There are players on the team from southern Israel, Kiryat Gat, Ashdod and our sentiments are with them, making sure their families are all right. At first the foreign players were very tense but we reassured them, explained to them about the high percentage of success of the missile defence system ("Iron Dome") and that there was no reason to panic".
The Maccabi squad are preparing for this Saturday's match against Hapoel Ramat Hasharon and Vered spoke about those preparations in spite of the security situation: "Thanks to the conditions we enjoy here at the training grounds in Netanya we can focus on our footballing but still I hope the situation will relax so we can return to our own training grounds in Tel Aviv".
