Dor Micha, the Yellow & Blue midfielder sat down for an exclusive interview with the Official Website about the Europa League, assists, growing up in Maccabi and his relationship with winger Tal Ben Chaim:
Becoming friends with Tal Ben Chaim:
“I remember the first day that Tal Ben Chaim came to the club and he gave me a hug and said how much he liked me, but I really didn’t even know him. I asked why he was so excited to see me and apparently once he signed with Maccabi someone that had my picture on WhatsApp was texting him all week and he thought it was me. He said how amazing it was to come to Maccabi. It took him more than a month to figure out it really wasn’t me who he was messaging with, so that’s how we hit it off.”
Dreaming Maccabi:
“When you grow up in the Maccabi system you always have dreams of winning the championship and I was at the games when they played in the Champions League back in 2004. Then it was just a dream, but last season I was actually able to fulfill it and be part of the Champions League as well.”
Micha’s first goal against Hapoel Ramat Gan:
“They called me to train with the First Team on a Wednesday for a match on Saturday. I had two training sessions and Moti Ivanir told me that I was going to be in the Starting XI and I was shocked, I didn’t expect it but it turned out fine.”
Walking out on the pitch with the Captain’s armband:
“I have been able to experience so many amazing accomplishments with the team I love so much, so it was extremely exciting to be able to lead the Club onto the pitch in Hajduk as Captain. Both my mother and father told me after the match that they almost cried. I was so proud to be able to wear both the Maccabi jersey and Captain’s armband, it was like a dream come true.”
The assist man:
“I think that my assist numbers are good and the last few years I’ve been able to finish off the season in double digits, so I’m pretty strong in this department. But when it comes to scoring goals, I know that this is a place where I can be doing better. I have been ok but I know that I can do it and be even better.”
The complete package:
I’m not trying to compare, but a player like Iniesta who may score only one goal a season is considered to be a great player and scorer. I also want to be able to have the complete package but as of today I know that I do well in passing the ball and I am pretty good at it.”
Ending last season empty handed:
“It’s hard to explain in words how difficult that moment was when we lost the State Cup Final. It was a disappointing year as we had just lost out on the league title a few days earlier and then the Cup Final. It was one of the toughest, if not the toughest loss in my career. On one hand we could have finished with the Double plus we played in the Champions League, that would have been great, but instead we ended with nothing, just bitter disappointment. I was at home replaying everything in my head and looking at what I could have done differently or what I could have done better so the title could have stayed with us.”
The drive:
Certainly losing out on the titles have given us the drive to want to win this season. We may have been hurt a bit last year, but we are coming into this campaign full of energy and desire to win.”
The European challenge:
“We’ve played in the Europa League before and collected plenty of points. Truthfully, this is the level that we are at and last year was a miracle that we advanced to the Champions League, but this is really where we belong. We are coming into the competition confident and I believe that we can really do some pretty nice things. Zenit is a little bit above the rest but I don’t think that the other clubs are there with us, so I think we can definitely do something in this tournament.”
What do you tell your father on the last Matchday of the season:
“To come down to the pitch and take a picture with the Championship Plate.”
