Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Paulo Sousa, in the run up to tomorrow's home encounter with Maccabi Haifa: "I have complete faith in my players"
This morning Maccabi Tel Aviv held their final practice ahead of tomorrow night's home league tie against Maccabi Haifa, to be broadcast starting at 8.50pm on Israel television channel 11. At the press conference held prior to the practice, head coach Paulo Sousa chose to begin with a word about the legendary Portuguese footballer Eusebio, who passed away this morning aged 71: "I apologise for opening on a sombre note, but today football has lost one of its greatest figures. My condolences to his family, to football in Portugal and in particular to the footballing community as a whole. He was a very special person to me from the moment I began my career and I wish his family well".
On a different note altogether, Sousa then turned his attention to tomorrow night's intriguing tie against Maccabi Haifa: "The key will be to remain ourselves and to play the very best football we know how to because tomorrow will be a completely different kettle of fish from our first encounter in Haifa in September. A lot of things have changed, one of which applies to both clubs in that we were both playing in two competitions then and I know as well as anyone how demanding that is to be competitive in both at one time. Now Haifa are focused on the league and are out to close the gap with us as much as possible. A number of their key players have recovered from injury, they're fully motivated – for all those reasons the match will be a difficult one for us. On the other hand, each match presents its own challenges but I remain optimistic and have complete faith in the ability of my players to get the result we're looking for".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElmnBvsyVfA
When asked about tomorrow's rival, Sousa answered: "From the information I have they intend to change their style of play against us, which we're used to from all of our encounters. It's not what I would have expected from a club with title aspirations like Maccabi Haifa. On the other hand this is a critical moment for them, focused as they are on the league and on trying to close the gap between us, it means adjusting their style to get a result. We don't know exactly how they're likely to play tomorrow but we're prepared for any changes and hope we'll be able to pick up on any of them quickly and make any adjustments of our own that are required. Tactically speaking our players are very versatile and know how to make quick changes on the pitch that are designed to achieve our goal – all three points".
In closing Sousa added: "Like I said at my very first press conference with Maccabi, winning a title after ten years was a great challenge, but it is no less a challenge to retain that title. One of the reasons for this is that all our opponents have strengthened themselves in their preparations for the challenge. From what I've been able to observe, all the clubs have done just that and my players deserve all the credit for working hard to achieve what we have achieved so far".
Team winger Tal Ben Haim, currently recovering from an eye injury that kept him out of training until this morning, spoke about his condition: "I'm healthy now, but because of this eye injury I haven't trained all week. On Thursday I received laser treatment to repair the hole in my retina. I was told to rest for three days and return to training on Sunday (today). As for tomorrow's match, I don't know if I'll play. That's up to the coach and the professional staff, but in principle I'm healthy".
Ben Haim was keen on keeping the atmosphere ahead of tomorrow's match within proportions: "I wouldn't get too dramatic about it. Bottom line: It's just another home game and we have to get out there and do our jobs and win. Right now we're not concentrating on other clubs and assigning terms to matches like "historic". We just want to win the next match and move one step closer to achieving our objectives for the season. We're a good enough club just to focus on ourselves. As for Maccabi Haifa, we have a professional staff and a coach and I'm certain they'll prepare us as well as they possibly can".
Even with the restrictions placed by the police on ticket sales, Bloomfield Stadium is expected to be filled to near capacity: "Whenever clubs like Maccabi Tel Aviv and Haifa meet, the match is intriguing and the atmosphere is positive", Ben Haim added. "Maybe because of the distance between us in the table it's not the "match of the season", but whenever Maccabi Haifa come to Bloomfield there's a good atmosphere and a good match and I'm sure that's what we're in for tomorrow. I've said from the very start that I'm happy to be here and that feeling gets stronger every minute. I'm very happy to be a part of Maccabi Tel Aviv, happy I joined such a good club and happy with what we've achieved so far".
