Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder Mahran Radi is excited about opening the season against Maccabi Haifa: "I'm hungry for the match"
On Monday night, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa will play the "match of the season" at Bloomfield Stadium in the first matchweek of the Israeli Premier League. After three "Toto" (League) Cup games, the team is looking forward to the "real thing" – the Premier League season – opening with what for them will be a very intriguing encounter. The weekly press conference was held before this evening's practice together with the Maccabi head coach, Oscar Garcia, and midfielder Mahran Radi. Radi wore a new fans' t-shirt, which will be on sale at Bloomfield on Monday.
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Radi is getting readjusted to the team where he played as a youth and is preparing for his first encounter as a Maccabi Tel Aviv player with a lively Bloomfield crowd: "I am hungry to play, it's fun to open the season against a team like Haifa. It's a contest that has always generated a great deal of interest and I hope to take part in the match. Maccabi Haifa have a squad consisting of excellent players, but we are also starting to connect, we are working hard and we will come to the game prepared".
Radi and Garcia both addressed the issue of draw that has them playing such a big match in week one. Garcia: "It's important because it is a league tie and for no other reason. Eventually we will have to play against all of the teams and I actually think that it's good to play a game like that at the start". Radi: "It's good to start against a big team. If we win, we will be very confident ahead of our next games. It's a big test but just as people said that the first game (in the League Cup) against Hapoel Tel Aviv would be our first test of the season and we got through it, I hope to get through this successfully too. We have to consider each game separately. We weren’t convincing in the Hapoel Derby and against Bnei Yehuda, but we were much better against Netanya. We want to continue improving and we intend to come to the game with a strong desire to win it".
The coach and player pointed out the importance of the supporters. Radi: "In the game against Netanya, our fans appreciated what we did on the pitch and encouraged us to move ahead. I hope it will be the same here too". Garcia: "We want to dedicate the game to the fans. It is our first match at Bloomfield this season, a home game that gives us great motivation against our rival".
Recent years' statistics of the encounters between the teams are not in Maccabi Tel Aviv's favour, but Oscar Garcia is confident that it will not have an impact on the game on Monday: "We beat Hapoel Tel Aviv, a team we haven't done well against in recent years, but it's all statistics. Not to mention that now our team is different, with new players and new coaches. It's just one game, anything can happen, especially when it's the first game of the season".
