Maccabi head coach Pako Ayestaran is getting his squad ready for the return leg of the State Cup quarter finals, with the tie drawn 1-1. Barak Badash: "We can get the job done"
A week after drawing the first leg of their State Cup quarter-final tie at Ironi Kiryat Shmona 1-1, Maccabi Tel Aviv's preparations for the return leg at Bloomfield Stadium on Wednesday night at 8.30pm are in full swing. The home venue and the single away goal perhaps give Maccabi a slight edge, but neither head coach Pako Ayestaran nor any of the players are factoring that advantage into their calculations so far preparedness for the tie is concerned. "We are not going to play this way. We are going to try to win this game and if we win we shouldn't have to think about the double value of the goals or whatever. We have to win the game", said the Spanish coach at the pre-match press conference, also attended by ex-Kiryat Shmona striker Barak Badash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ8q8SZP9k4
Asked what he expected of his players, Pako responded: "The level of commitment and effort that they are showing in most of the games this season, because it's a knock-out game and we know that we do not have a second opportunity in this case. If we don't perform and get a result we're out of the cup. In this case it's not like a league game, that even if you don't perform and you don't get the result you know that you've got a chance to sort out the problem in the future. But here you have no chance. It's one game that if you don't win, you're out".
Asked to characterise tomorrow night's rival Kiryat Shmona, the Maccabi coach replied: "I think like all of us we know they are a competitive team that lead the table for many weeks and still are a big contender. I think their main characteristic is that they always compete in every game". Asked if he thought their weekend loss to fellow title rivals Hapoel Beer Sheva had made them more vulnerable, he answered: "Not at all. Vulnerability is not down to one game and I think they have shown they are consistent during the season. They are consistent in their style of the game and what they do they do well. In this case I think we know how they approach the games and we will try to be ready".
Though neither of the club's line-ups for the match has been finalised, both sides are currently struggling with injury problems. But Pako remains optimistic: "In the end the squads are the ones that win or lose the trophies. I really believe my squad is good enough and long enough to answer to all these difficulties". The Maccabi head coach is equally upbeat about the support he anticipates at Bloomfield Stadium from the home-side fans: "We know that most of the supporters are behind the team and they are really supportive, independently of the circumstances that the team are going through. But it's true that there's a minority who don't help and when I talked after the game about this anxiety and this lack of respect to a player of course I was talking about the ones that are disrespectful. Most of the crowd is not this way and we are quite lucky that Maccabi has great supporters. At the end as I said when you get a championship it is down to everybody. We know how the supporters can affect positively or negatively on the team and I think it's something the wrong supporters, not the right ones, have to consider".
Barak Badash: "We're fully committed"
Barak Badash also addressed himself to the opponents Maccabi will now be facing for the third time in under three weeks: "That Ironi Kiryat Shmona lost to Hapoel Beer Sheva at the weekend is of no matter to us. We're fully committed and feel confident that in front of the home crowd we can get the job done. But the rivalry between us and Kiryat Shmona is a healthy and sportsmanlike one. They're having a brilliant season and are worthy rivals for this season's title. The atmosphere will be as good as the match itself and we hope we'll come out on top. The league doesn't stand or fall with the matches between us and like I said, we're fully committed, we're prepared with coach's instructions and I personally believe in a Maccabi victory".
