Maccabi head coach Pako Ayestaran is by no means making light of the "Toto" Cup: "We want to play with our best eleven arriving in the right mental state"
Today at the media room of the Netanya's "Toto" Stadium, a joint press conference attended by both Maccabi head coach Pako Ayestaran and opponents Hapoel Haifa head coach Reuven Atar was held ahead of the two "Toto" (League) Cup semi-finals to be held tomorrow night. The early kick-off will commence at 7pm at the Netanya Stadium itself and see Maccabi Haifa face off against Ashdod FC. The late kick-off will begin at 9pm at the "Moshava" Stadium in Petach Tikva, where Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Haifa will battle it out for the right of passage to the finals. Ticket sales for the match are still ongoing at the "Leaan" ticket agency, online and at their offices at 101 Dizengoff St. in Tel Aviv. Tickets are also still available at the nearby official Maccabi Tel Aviv merchandise shop at 147 Dizengoff St. Click here to purchase your ticket online.
At the press conference, Pako Ayestaran had this to say about tomorrow night's "Toto" Cup encounter: "For us this is the most important game at the moment, we want to try to do our best tomorrow. For us it's a very important one because it's the only one we can win. We want to try to play with our best eleven arriving in the right mental state because sometimes it is not a matter of playing with the same players as you play in the league. Even in Liverpool we came to a Carling Cup final with players from the reserve. Sometimes the desire and the passion of the players can be used for the lack of ability. In this case it's an open game. I saw them (Hapoel Haifa) playing against Maccabi Haifa and I said to Reuven (Atar), for me I think they were better than Maccabi Haifa. They lost the game but you have to be aware that if you are not in the right mental state maybe you can be surprised and lose the game".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv-9YGW_rwI&feature=youtu.be
Maccabi captain Sheran Yeini echoed the words of his coach: "Because we haven't won (a Cup) in a long time we're hungry, and as players it's important for us to help the club win as many trophies as possible. We'll be doing our best to win this one".
On the other side, Reuven Atar made no effort to hide the fact that his club's position holding up the table casts a shadow on tomorrow night's encounter: "We'll be weighing up our capacities for the match, some players who usually play will be sitting on the bench, but whoever does play will give it their all to get us to the final. In light of our situation in the league our match on Saturday is obviously very important. In the Toto Cup there's a lot less pressure than in the league so I think my players will be more relaxed, and perhaps that will have a positive effect in the games that follow".
Hapoel Haifa captain, Kobi Dajani, summed things up: "We're hoping to put our league problems to one side for the evening and do our best to get to the final. We're not conceding before the match starts, but everyone knows that due to our situation in the league our main focus is on Saturday".
