Striker Tal Ben Haim, who scored his first goal in Maccabi kit last night, already has his eye on the next rival: "We all saw what they accomplished last season"
The moment the final whistle blew on Maccabi Tel Aviv's aggregate victory over Hungarian Champions Gyori ETO FC, the mind games began for the next round of qualification for the Champions League. The FC Basel head coach, 38 year-old Murat Yakin, was present at the match and hurried to provide the press with headlines that minimised the presumed gap between the two clubs, at least where European achievements are concerned. His opposite number, Maccabi head coach Paulo Sousa, preferred not to be drawn into too much discussion about next week's match and said: "Concerning FC Basel I don't think any introductions are necessary, but I'm sure they're not particularly happy to have drawn this Maccabi Tel Aviv squad either". He seemed more interested in talking about the large crowds of Maccabi fans that came to the Gyori match and finished by thanking them: "I very much appreciate the way the fans accepted me from the very start and in particular how they supported us throughout the match".
Sousa was joined by striker Tal Ben Haim, who scored his first Maccabi goal in front of the home crowd and talked about his feelings: "I really enjoyed myself, the team played very well, especially in the first half. They conceded early on and that's how we tied up the match and the competition, it's not every day you advance to a higher stage in Champions League qualification and we're very happy about that. As for missing that goal, that's part of being a striker, I'll miss a lot more of them, I'd rather focus on moving forward in the Champions League". As for Maccabi's next rivals in the competition, Ben Haim had this to say: "They're very difficult opponents, we saw how far they got last season in the Europa League, but just as we didn't want to draw them, they didn't want to draw us. We're a very good side, we can stand up to any other club and I'm sure they'll be preparing us as well for this encounter as well as they did for Gyori. We'll get out there and play our game because we're keen to reach the next stage".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D85f527ke3Q&feature=c4-overview&list=UU-oWQqnf8B8a_TsmVi0mTUg
Midfielder Eran Zahavi, who was involved in the second goal and actually got credit for it by UEFA officials, also spoke out about the contest: "We weren't thinking about Basel during the match, first and foremost only about how to gift our fans, who hadn't seen us play at Bloomfield (Stadium) in quite a while, a quality match. It was a great display of football and now we can start thinking about Basel, we'll have a day off to enjoy and then we'll start preparing and try to do our best". Zahavi had this to say about his teammate Ben Haim's goal: "I don't think there was all that much riding on the goal, it's only his second match at Maccabi Tel Aviv and I think this goal just shows what qualities he has. That's what's expected of us, the depth of his moves, his speed, and that adds a lot to our game and there's more where that came from".
When asked what he thought FC Basel head coach Murat Yakin's impressions were of the match, he answered: "I think he saw a good side, a hungry side, a side that plays good football. We'll certainly have to have a good look at their qualities too, I haven't seen them play yet, but no question about it, they're a club at the very top European level and so far we're concerned we'll try to adapt ourselves to them".
