Prior to Rosh Hashana – the Jewish New Year, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s veteran midfielder Gal Alberman looked back at his career with the Yellow-and-Blue from his early years to the present day, the changes that have taken place at the club, the Champions League, his International retirement and his goals for the upcoming season.

Gal Alberman, 32 years old, Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder and new father:

Yes, it’s a great feeling and it’s the most amazing feeling I’ve ever had in my life up until now. My wife and I had our firstborn child, a girl and I’m at a great place in my life right now.

You had some difficulties breaking in with the club:

This was a very hard period that I’ll never forget. One that’s also hard to let go of. I was pretty clam though because I believed I would get my chance with the club. Even with all of the difficulties the minute I came to Maccabi Tel Aviv something in my intuition told me that I made the correct choice and when I look back at this I understand that it was part of a whole process. I know that it wasn’t an easy time and it was rough, but I’m happy now and no one ever wants to go back to that place like where I was a few years ago.

Owner Mitch Goldhar and yourself have experienced many changes at Maccabi:

I think that it’s only natural because we came on board at about the same time and we experienced the same things, so we have a lot in common. We know how far we’ve gone over the years, from where we began and where we are now and we will never forget how far we’ve actually come with the club.

Jordi Cryuff, Maccabi’s Sporting Director has played a very important role with Maccabi:

When the management philosophy of the team changed and someone with the talents of Jordi Cryuff became the sporting director, he was able to look at the club’s standing not just at that moment but over a longer period of time. He has worked on many things with the club and from the day he started at Maccabi we all went on a different and new path. If we look back four years and you would have told me this is where we would be today, I don’t think I would’ve believed you.

Participating in the Champions League must be an amazing feeling:

One of the greatest accomplishments in my career is to take part in this competition, one that’s on the grandest footballing stage in Europe and perhaps in the world. It’s an accomplishment that I’m really happy I was able to reach and I can say that this is one of my career hi-lights. We can see that making it to the Champions League was in part due to raising our level of play and playing more difficult sides. As a team we have always challenged other clubs and we want to stand toe-to-toe with the best. For the supporters they want to see us challenge the top sides but for us it’s a professional challenge and one that we want to face and that we are looking forward to as well.

This is a video of just you on the pitch during a match, watching your every move:

This is the first time I’ve ever watched a video of a match when the camera is focussed just on me. It’s kind of strange and different than what I feel on the pitch itself. All of a sudden, to see just me is weird. A lot of times players set goals for themselves such as an amount of goals that they will score or making sure not to give up a certain amount of goals. But for me it’s just to play well on the field and to help my teammates so they can play even better. This is part of what you learn from the many years of experience that one has playing football.

You just announced your retirement from International football:

The decision was something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time and it wasn’t just on the spur of the moment. I started playing for the Israel National Team at a very young age, I think it was when I was 19 years old. Over the years because of injuries and other things I may have missed certain periods with the team, but I’ve gotten to a point where I’m nearing the end of my career and I decided to put all of my efforts into Maccabi Tel Aviv and for the club. I’ve had some ups and some downs along with some disappointments in my career but I’m at point where I am satisfied with my decision.

The New Year is here and you must be looking at both professional and personal goals:

When I do interviews I like to only discuss the professional side of things so for us it’s a new start for the club and a great step for Maccabi Tel Aviv. It’s our first appearance in the Champions League in a very long time and I hope we will do well and be able to play at these levels with not only Chelsea but also with the other clubs. I hope we will be happy with our performance and also make the fans happy as well. We can’t forget that we are also participating in the Israeli league which is also very important.