And now to something totally different
The day of a State Cup Final is something totally different and that’s not a cliche. The State Cup is totally different than the league. The league is a marathon over the course of a full season, while the State Cup is one match – either you leave with the Cup or you leave empty handed. Over the last two seasons we had both take place. One season we won and the next we came away with nothing. If you are part of Maccabi you know that finishing second is never good enough in the State Cup as we always want to be number one.
The night before you are already dreaming about the Cup. When you wake up in the morning you already have the first thoughts of the Cup and you seem to see the Cup before your eyes all day long. You know that after 90, 120 minutes or penalties all you want to do is take home the Cup. There are also other things that make this match different than a regular one. There are some matches that you will play during your career that are all or nothing. This is a game that you are not prepared to give up on no matter how hurt you may be or if you need to take a shot or just swallow the pain. You just know that there is no room for error and there is no match next week. You had to make it through a number of matches already and at the end of the day everything is determined on one night.
Don’t worry
If you look at the current season, then the Cup is the most important thing for Maccabi this campaign, but you could say that it’s even more important this season. No one wants to finish off another season without a title. A dynasty is being formed before our very eyes as the Club has been in 3 straight State Cup Finals, took home championships and fought for others until the end, but all in all the only thing that will be remembered is if you took home a title or not.
This time around the feeling is that Maccabi is coming in as the favorite against Bnei Yehuda but there is also a worrisome feeling that the Club will end of the season yet again without a title. The situation is different but in reference to this I remember the State Cup Final against Hapoel Beer Sheva in 2015. Even though we won the league we were concerned heading into the State Cup Final. We had a number of players who couldn’t play due to suspensions, there were injuries as well and the bottom line was that we were missing many players especially midfielders and defenders. There were 6 substitutes on the bench who were primarily midfielders and attackers. The defense was anchored by Gal Alberman and Omri Ben Harush who played as central defenders, Yuval Shpungin who barely played all season long came back smack dab into money time and proved himself big time. Sheran Yeini, Carlos Garcia, Eitan Tibi and Dor Peretz who all played as central defenders throughout the campaign were out.
The professional staff gave us plenty of confidence for this match, much more than usual. After the warmups the players went onto the pitch feeling that they were born to play the positions that they would be in for the match. Also, the first few minutes and plays that we made just got us into the game. We began the contest with a few good plays that gave us confidence and we knocked them off balance. The rest as they say was history. The fans cheered us on like never before with so much passion and energy. Sammy Ofer Stadium was packed with 30K fans, not 30K with 20K just people coming to see the match, but true Yellow & Blue fans. A half hour to an hour before the game you couldn’t hear anything other than the fans. All that was left to do was to go out and enjoy.
Come to work
Before the State Cup Final there are always matches that are sitting on some of the players minds. You can’t be complacent and you have to look back at some of the surprise finals such as when a club like Hapoel Ramat Gan won the Cup. No one wants it to happen at their expense. The last thing a player wants to happen is a surprise. You just have to come into the game as ready as possible and it doesn’t matter who the opponent is, just do everything that you can to make sure you come out on top at the end of the evening.
