After a 3-0 aggregate win over Santa Coloma, Maccabi's Eran Zahavi awaits the next challenge: "We'll be looking to raise our game"
The Maccabi Tel Aviv squad returned to Israel last night from Cyprus after a 2-0 win over Santa Coloma that sent them into the Champions League third qualifying round. Their opponents there will only be known this evening, after the conclusion of the second leg of the 2nd round tie between Slovenian champions NK Maribor and Bosnian titleholders HSK Zrinjski. But staying with Maccabi's second round return leg win last night, head coach Oscar Garcia had this to say: "It's difficult to be in top form at this stage of the season. We're working hard in training but playing a side that puts eleven men behind the ball, that's another matter altogether. Maccabi have only played once in the group stage of the Champions League and if we can get there again that would be quite an achievement for us. But we have to take it one game at a time".
Garcia also addressed himself to the security situation at home: "It's carrying on longer than during my last term here but we have to stay calm and hope it will be over as soon as possible". He added a word about the passing of former Israel footballer and manager Nitzan Shirazi: "I would like to express my deepest felt condolences to his family on this very sad occasion".
Team captain Sheran Yeini also admitted that his side didn't have an easy time of it against the Andorran champions but remained optimistic about the future: "These are the first contests of the season, we still have to get into top form. In the end we'll get up to standard and score more goals. Our opponents were more tired tonight, which was good for us because we saw them less in front of goal. Whatever we did we did well until the very end, but our final passes let us down, including my own. In any case it's always more difficult to play a side that crowd their own area, we saw that in the World Cup too".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEKGQioNSNs&list=UU-oWQqnf8B8a_TsmVi0mTUg
"As for our next objective in Europe, I apologise for boring you with the same reply but we're taking it one step at a time, just the match in front of us". Yeini also added a word about the early passing of Nitzan Shirazi: "In addition to being a great coach, he was also a great man. It's a sad day for all of us".
Midfielder Eran Zahavi, who scored Maccabi's first goal last night from the spot, began with a word about Nitzan Shirazi: "We share in the grief of his family, Nitzan was a great man". Returning to last night's match, Zahavi also pointed to the difficulties Santa Coloma presented to the Israeli champions: "It wasn't easy at all. We created a lot of chances and we could have won by a greater margin but it's not that important, it's still early in the season. We're looking ahead to next week, when we face even tougher opposition. When the opposing team plays attacking football the level of the match goes up a notch and I hope we'll be able to raise our game as well".
Zahavi also spoke about what it's like to play a "home" tie in Cyprus: "It puts us at a disadvantage, no question about it. It's like playing all your matches on the road and that's not easy at all. But there are circumstances that go beyond football and we all hope it will be over soon so we can get back to playing in front of our own fans. That will be our bonus".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKpoiZCUS2Y
