There are some that say that this was the all-time greatest match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa and you can understand why. 45,000 fans packed into Ramat Gan Stadium and tens of thousands more who were watching on TV saw one of the greatest sporting events in Israel that ultimately ended with Maccabi heading to the State Cup Final.
It all began in the 2nd minute when Moshe Schweitzer scored sending the Yellow-and-Blue fans into pandemonium. David Amiga’s ball found a totally open Schweitzer that signaled the beginning of one of the most amazing games in State Cup history. Moti Ivanir added to the lead and gave Maccabi a 2:0 advantage at the half making everyone think that the club had already booked their ticket to the final.
But in the 50th minute, Haifa cut the lead after a costly error by Maccabi. Keeper Moshe Marcus mishandled a ball that Moshe Selecter easily slotted home from the left side of the goal cutting the lead to 2:1. Just minutes later Haifa evened the score when Yaron Persalani headed the ball past Marcus tying the match up at 2:2. At that point, Maccabi coach David Schweitzer decided to make a change between the pipes and brought in Boni Ginzburg for a stunned Marcus. It didn’t take long for Maccabi to take the lead again when Menashe Shimonov slammed home a perfect chance in front of the goal off of a corner. In the 72nd minute the Greens were awarded a penalty when Hillel Kaplan was pulled down in the box. Selecter stepped up and beat Ginzburg to make the score 3:3 as the result would stay that way for the balance of regulation time.
As the clock hit the 108th minute of extra time it looked like Haifa had sewed up the win. A long pass by Selecter landed right onto Ronny Rosenthal’s feet as the Israeli international beat an oncoming Ginzburg by lifting the ball over the keeper. However, Benny Tabak would have none of that as the Maccabi star received Amiga’s corner and put the ball into the goal for a 4:4 tie as the match headed into penalty kicks.
The Greens kicked first and Selecter scored his third of the match. Avraham Levi was up first for the Yellow-and-Blue and he also scored. Kaplan put his kick behind Ginzburg and when Yehuda Katsav missed his opportunity for Maccabi, all fingers pointed towards Haifa moving on. But Eli Cohen blew his chance coupled with Yakov Nomeder’s miss for the Yellow-and-Blue and then a goal by the Greens defender Yossi Kramer put Haifa in front 3:1.
Have we said that this was a crazy match? Moti Ivanir cut the penalty shootout to 3:2 and a save by Ginzburg on Reuven Haled’s kick opened the door for Yiftach Halevi to draw the sides even at 3:3. It was Ronny Rosenthal’s turn and he came up short, stonewalled by the young keeper making a great save on a tough kick. Maccabi then had a chance to end one of the most impossible games but David Amiga missed his opportunity allowing both of the team’s keepers to step-up to the spot with each scoring their efforts to make the score 4:4.
Gaby Amsalem aimed for the right corner just like Rosenthal had done but Ginzburg made the save once again. Benny Tabak then stepped up and cooly put his ball right into the left corner of the goal finally ending one of the most dramatic matches in all of Israeli football history.
