Rosh HaShana eve. Matchday One of the Champions League. It took us a while to believe that we were part of this amazing competition. And imagine we were playing our first match at Ramat Gan Stadium against none other than Bayern Munich in a group that featured “The Old Lady” Juventus and the classic Jewish Club of Holland, Ajax.
The night before the first game we were staying at the Intercontinental Hotel and when I lay down lots of things ran through my head. How would such a young team with very little experience play against this huge well-oiled German powerhouse? I was a ‘keeper with some experience but how would I stand up against such an amazing offense that would create wave after wave of attacks. Did anyone say that this was a “White Night”?
Once the opening kickoff took place all of tension exploded from Matchday One all the way until the final game against Juventus. It was a campaign that we came into without a ton of experience as we were so young but we were still able to take four points from a win against Ajax and a draw versus Juventus. I think what characterized the competition for us was our determination, sacrifice and courage to be able to look these top teams right into the white of their eyes.
This takes me to the current Maccabi Tel Aviv campaign. Even though the club lost to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge the players can be proud of themselves for their effort (even our team gave up five goals to Bayern). They have to keep giving it all they’ve got on the pitch and enjoy the whole experience. Let’s be honest with ourselves, there’s a huge gap between the big European clubs and us.
Any team that Maccabi could’ve gotten in the draw would have been tough be it at home or on the road, but you never know as they could surprise us. Most importantly we have to take this all in proportion and try out best to keep to the tactical game plan and the key will be that every player needs to give over 100% of themselves on the pitch in each and every match.
One more point that’s very close to my heart – and this is about Rajkovic the young ‘keeper. The 19-year old came to Maccabi with very high expectations and a lot of promise, and rightfully so. But we have to keep in mind that we are still talking about a very young ‘keeper who left his home in Serbia and has now left the safety net of being in his own country to play in a foreign land. Rajkovic is a diamond in the rough due to his young age despite having played for the full Serbian National Team. Fortunately for him, he has come to work with a master teacher in one Shura Uvarov.
He knows how to work with him on his confidence which at times may be a bit too excessive, and he can also teach him technical ball skills, going out for high balls in the box and other things that Rajkovic can certainly handle. Give him some time to adjust and get used to a new language, a new culture and being able to communicate with the players on the field. I believe Maccabi made a great decision to bring him in and this will be proven to be true in the near future.
Lastly, a word about the supporters.
I can make a list with every adjective in the book to describe the great fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
But I’ll do it just a short sentence:
You are #1 in all of Europe!
CONGRATULATIONS!
Good luck tonight and good luck this whole campaign!
With Love,
Liran Staruber
