In last night's "Toto" Cup semi-final, striker Barak Itzhaki made his first appearance of the season: "Thanks to the club's medical staff"
For the first time in six years, Maccabi Tel Aviv are through to the "Toto" (League) Cup final where they'll face Maccabi Haifa, themselves following a seven-year absence. Courtesy of a Tal Ben Haim strike Maccabi last night beat Hapoel Haifa 1-0 in the semi-final and so reached the competition's final without conceding a single goal. Defender Carlos Garcia, who was walked off the pitch ten minutes from time with a cut above his eyebrow, will undergo checks to see if he'll be fit for the team's forthcoming tie on Sunday against Maccabi Petach Tikva at Netanya's "Toto" Stadium. The rest of the squad will return to practice this morning in preparation for the match. To see the seating arrangements for season ticket holders, click here.
After the game, Maccabi head coach Pako Ayestaran was reminded of his remark that going on the team's performance on the night it will be impossible to win any titles: "They asked me if I was going to win the final. I think you saw the game and we played badly, it was probably our worst game. In this case it's difficult when you don't play well, it's difficult to win games. Even today it could have been a draw or we could have lost. I think we started the game really well, the first fifteen, twenty minutes, and from there we started losing many balls. We had no game in the middle. And you saw that in the transition we lost so many balls it is difficult to play well when you are losing balls. The players didn't find the right positions and we didn't find the right passes. We were not able to join the game in the middle. And you can say we made seven changes from the last eleven, but they're not really seven changes because half of the changes and substitutions were regulars in the past. One of the substitutions was (defender) Carlos (Garcia), but Carlos is a regular player. Another substitution was Mitro (midfielder Nikola Mitrovic) but Mitro is a regular player. Another one was (winger) Tal (Ben Chaim), a regular player. In this case it wasn't really seven. But even if it wasn't a real seven it affected the game".
The head coach also had a word to say about striker Barak Itzhaki, who came on for the last twelve minutes after being sidelined with injury since last February: "Barak Itzhaki is a player who is coming closer and as soon as he continues with high intensity he'll have chances like the other ones. When? We will have to see when it will be a possibility".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R__V67NqRs&feature=youtu.be
Barak Itzhaki himself also shared his feelings after the match: "It was very exciting for me, getting back on the pitch after so much time, and I'm really happy about it. I wasn't apprehensive, I've undergone a lot of training to get back into shape, even tackles in practice before tonight. Nobody waved any magic wand, I worked very hard for this so whatever hesitation I had was gone. It's not like I can start playing full matches. It's a gradual process, here a few minutes, there another few, until I'm back to match fitness. For me that's progress. It's been a difficult time for me and this is a good opportunity to thank the club's medical staff, who supported me and helped me all the way, thanks to all of you".
The striker continued: "I'm glad to hear they're counting on me for the rest of the season and who knows better than Pako that I've still got a way to go before I'm back to full capacity. We're taking it a day at a time. I'm not ready to play whole matches yet and they wouldn't let me do so, better safe than sorry. Whatever I can do to help the team I'm very happy to do. It's not easy going through a patch like that, especially for someone like me who loves this game with all his heart, which is why I've been working hard off the pitch too. This being the second time I'm going through this, unfortunately, I can tell you that getting myself back into the proper mental state is just as important. But I know I can come back even stronger. That's important for everyone. My folks and my partner have supported me all the way".
