At a pre-match press conference, Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Paulo Sousa said nothing to indicate he looks down upon tomorrow's opponent, Israeli Premier League newcomers Maccabi Petach Tikva. On the contrary, so far he's concerned their results up till now have not done justice to their abilities
This morning the Maccabi Tel Aviv squad held their final preparations for tomorrow's home league tie against Maccabi Petach Tikva at Bloomfield Stadium. Before the practice, head coach Paulo Sousa and team captain Sheran Yeini attended the team's weekly press conference: "The atmosphere is always good when you win", said Sousa, referring to Maccabi's historic Europa League victory on Thursday night against Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt, "especially if you beat such an important club as Frankfurt in international competition. It's only to be expected that the whole squad and anyone who has the reputation of Israeli football at heart would want to bask in the glory of that victory as long as possible. I have no way of comparing this win to similar club achievements, but clearly the fans out in the streets are very proud of the way we played".
As for tomorrow night's opponents he added, "Maccabi Petach Tikva's results so far have not done justice to the club and we'll have to cause our opponents a lot of problems to create chances and convert them to win the match. As for Hapoel Beer Sheva's win yesterday, we respect all of our opponents but we focus only on the match at hand and the work it requires of us".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_PFsUaDgHY
Team skipper Sheran Yeini also had a word to say about Thursday night's historic victory: "It was a brilliant win, we were in top form and that's really important to the club because we want to continue to play at the top levels in Europe so it's great to prove we can win a match like that. It's like the coach said, we want to carry on as long as possible in European competitions. I don't think it's possible to express in words what goes on at Bloomfield Stadium, it's just a feeling you get. I mean, we play well on the road too, it's just that there our opponents feel comfortable as well and we feel the need to play better and better away from Bloomfield. Not that we have any particular problems on the road, it's just that Bloomfield is our home".
Yeini reacted dismissively to all the talk about the margin of tomorrow night's victory: "Winning margins are no concern of ours, we're professionals and know how to prepare ourselves for a game and be focused and serious about the matches we play. We have the highest respect for Maccabi Petach Tikva and have learnt a great deal about them. As for the crowded fixture schedule, we train properly at the sessions between matches so far the physiological side goes but never lose sight of the importance of our mental and tactical preparations. That's how we manage to come to each match refreshed and well prepared".
In other news, three of Maccabi's young stars – striker Munas Dabbur, midfielder Omri Altman and goalkeeper Barak Levi – have all been capped by young Israel head coach Michael Nis for the squad that will be playing in the European Under-21 championship qualifiers against fellow group 8 members Norway on November 15th at 2pm and Portugal on November 18th at 7.30pm. Both matches will be played at the "Moshava" Stadium in Petah Tikvah.
