46 years years have passed since Dubir Schweitzer’s squad set the mark that was equaled by Shota Arveladze’s club in one of the team’s greatest matches. Last night it was Tal Ben Chaim, Vidar Kjartansson and Nosa Igiebor while in 1970 it was Giora Speigel, Dror Bar Nur and Meir Nimni along with other fantastic players.
The morning after the demolition we spoke to the legends and asked them what they felt following last evening’s Derby. Giora Speigel who starred in the original 5:0 Derby with a hattrick said: “I saw the game. I figured Maccabi was going to win the match due to the big difference between the sides in terms of quality and management. I didn’t know how it would end but I saw that Maccabi was going to have a good showing.”
Comparing the two squads:
“I’m not one who likes to compare teams from different eras. Back then Hapoel was UCL better than today and were on par with us. We were better in that one matchup but we certainly didn’t face a weak team, in reality it was quite the opposite. The atmosphere was also very different in the country as it was a much smaller nation as well as Tel Aviv and it was more of a closed it family type environment. As well, we were only part time players and amateurs.”
Did you ever think you would see this result again:
“You can never look backwards in life. Things have happened in the past and they can certainly occur on the future. Even today there are huge differences between the big clubs and the smaller ones even much larger than in our day so it’s hard again to compare. Tal’s second goal was nice and so was Vidar’s first. Watching Maccabi was phenomenal. I hope that next time someone will score a hat trick just like I did back then. Before the match I spoke with some of the guys from the 1970 team and I’m sure we will discuss the victory the next time we get together.”
Dror Bar-Nur also took part in the historical match 46 years ago and spoke about his wonderful memories from that game: “I had Deja Vu. It brought me back to 1970. The 5th goal was in the 80th minute and we scored our fifth in the 60th minute so the Hapoel players asked us to stop scoring. We were good boys and we listened to them.”
Did you think that a Maccabi team would ever equal your accomplishment?
“Our era is part of the past. Some we played we’ve always remained Maccabi fans and last night warmed our heart. I’m proud to be part of the tradition and this big Club. I wanted to see if they would break our record as records are made to be broken. So when they toed our record they became part of history.”
Meir Nimni was also part of the 11 players who made history and was moved by last night’s result: I really enjoyed the match and I’m very happy that they tied our mark. Maccabi for me is the love of my life. It’s important to me that every Maccabi match is played like they didn’t last night. This was Maccabi’s best match in a long time and perhaps the best over the past few years.”
Now & Then:
“In 1970 Hapoel was very strong. Right after our big win we played them again and lost, proving that they were a strong side. You can’t compare. I can’t forget that the weather was wintery and rainy. To score five goals in these conditions is not simple. The whole stadium was packed and you couldn’t squeeze another person inside. The Hapoel keeper was named Man of the Match in order for you to really understand what kind of show we put on.”
