Tal Ben Haim, the Maccabi Tel Aviv veteran central defender featured for the Yellow & Blue in the 1:0 loss to Hapoel Beer Sheva. Number 26 spoke to the media following the contest:

“I suffered on the bench over the last few matches just like the fans. My heart was broken so I know exactly how the fans are feeling. I know what they are going through as someone who has grown up through the ranks of the club. As for the result, we failed and we have to pick ourselves up quickly. We played well and had a number of chances but we gave up on a half chance by Beer Sheva and I’m disappointed just like the rest of the players.”

Showing a fighting spirit for the upcoming match with Beitar:
“There’s no question that our hearts are broken and if it’s not you shouldn’t be in this business. When we saw Beer Sheva celebrating last year, it was something that stayed with us all summer long. We began the season well, but when you lose a few matches in money time everything changes. Just a few weeks ago we had the same points as they did. We have an important match against Beitar coming up and if we go into that game the same way as we did in this one, with the same character and fighting spirit and we take advantage of our situations the results will be better.”

Being motivated for every match:
“I don’t think that there’s one player that didn’t come into this the correct way if someone does then they will find themselves on the outside looking in. That’s unacceptable at Maccabi. We will go into every match motivated and show that we are prepared to play at this level.”

European spot in jeopardy:
“Right now we don’t have to look at the table but at ourselves and make sure that we come into every match ready to play quality football, take advantage of the situations and get the results.”

Looking ahead:
“My heart is broken. Not just the fans at the stadium, but the ones at home watching on TV. Whether it’s phone calls or messages that we have gotten over the past few weeks we came into this match in better shape and now we have to put the talking aside and we have to make sure we go into the next match and look better and score when we have the chances to score.”

Being a part of Maccabi now and in the future:
“Unfortunately we lost some of that and my goal is to help bring this back to the club. I began at Maccabi from the age of 6 and I’m a fan of Maccabi Tel Aviv. I don’t have anything to add now but we will wait until the summer and see.”