Maccabi Tel Aviv celebrated their 23rd Championship on Sunday night at Live Park in Rishon Le’Zion. For the players and fans this was one of the highlights of the season as they looked back at the successful season that was.
Avi Rikan looked back at winning his first championship with Maccabi:
“To be honest, I have been here for some time and up until now I didn’t win a title. It was something that was missing for me and I had always said that I’m here to win titles and I’m glad it has finally happened. I’m happy that I finally won the championship and everyone will know that I achieved it here with Maccabi. We had a very convincing season, very dominant right from the start we knew what we were facing and we wanted to bring the club back to where it belongs and that’s to be the champions of Israel. We’re very proud.
Dor Peretz talked about the bright future:
“I matured when I went on loan. Everyone dreams that if they are loaned out they return to Maccabi and come back big time. It’s a long journey, we saw this season that the homegrown players are good enough to represent the club and I think that if this is Maccabi’s future, the future is very good.”
Yonatan Cohen spoke his personal story:
“I didn’t have an easy start to the season, but I didn’t work hard for three seasons when I was on loan for nothing – I worked hard to be ready for Maccabi. When I felt that I was really ready, I knew that I hadn’t given up on myself. I’m very happy to have proved that I can play and be part of a historical season. It was amazing. Coach and I had a good conversation at the start of the season, I felt that he believed in me and I believed in myself. Sometimes I asked myself what I’m doing here, but I’m happy I didn’t give up and I took the opportunity with both hands and made the most of it.”
Maor Kandil discussed his connection to the club and the fans:
“The truth is that I have been a Maccabi fan from a very young age, 6 years old. I would go to games (basketball) and I knew all of the songs. It’s a dream come true, my connection to the fans, all of it. Sometimes I go to sleep and I can’t believe that this is really happening. The fans really love and l receive a lot of compliments and messages. It’s a lot of fun.”
