Maccabi Tel Aviv officially lost any chance to win the league title last night when they fell at home to Hapoel Beer Sheva 2:1. The Yellow & Blue will now try to set their sights on finishing off the league season as strong as possible and prepare for State Cup before getting ready for next season.
The Captain, Sheran Yeini summed up the match that was: “Beer Sheva deserved it and they had a great season. I believe that this will just make ourselves, Maccabi Haifa, Beitar Jerusalem and other clubs hungrier to succeed and win a title. The fact that they won two seasons in a row and it’s difficult for us to accept and it, will give me the drive to work even harder going forward.”
The gap to the top of the table:
“I think we are a club that has to be much closer to Hapoel Beer Sheva, I’m proud of my team and I want it to improve as fast a possible. They had a real hunger in the second half and the goal gave them a big push. I’m sure that if you ask Beer Sheva they will say that they physically worked hard and that they also had a tough battle. They have some great players and we respect one another and it’s fun to compete against them. It’s too bad that we are on the losing side this time.”
Did he believe that he could help Maccabi take the title when he returned from Holland:
“I thought we would win the title when I arrived. Once we lost to them at Turner, the odds diminished. I still believed that we could do it, but once we drew at Beitar, we started to understand what the situation was. Winners don’t look at statistics. The minute you have a chance, you just go for it.”
The fans disappointment:
“The fans are crying because they care. There are also players who are upset. The ones that care will show it more. Everyone cares, some take it harder than others. Everyone has a different way of coping with it. It hurts and it hurts not to take the championship and not to finish in first place. But this will make us fight even more next season and work on those things that need improvement.”
The importance of winning the State Cup:
“We aren’t thinking in any way negatively and we have a couple of matches to go that will help raise our confidence, stay in shape and have some players who haven’t gotten minutes the chance to play and fight for their place in the Starting XI. That’s what we are thinking about now. The thoughts of the loss aren’t even entering our heads. It’s important for us to win titles. Football is a game of ups and downs, there are always waves of success in football, hopefully we will get back onto that wave as soon as possible.”
