Ron Asherov a Maccabi Tel Aviv supporter has been on a bicycle tour across Europe over the past month. When found out that the Yellow & Blue were playing Cluj just this last week and the match was going to take place in Romania a few hundred kilometers from Hungary he quickly found himself in a dilemma. As a dedicated and loyal fan who has followed Maccabi throughout the continent, how was he going to make it to the match? However, this was quickly solved.
A week of strenuous riding didn’t deter Asherov, who quickly turned his bike around and changed his route in order to make it to Cluj in definitely an unusual manner. Just moments before he’ll get to see Maccabi in Champions League qualifying, Asherov told us about his trip, his love for the Yellow & Blue and also received a surprise from the Club’s CEO Ben Mansford.
“Last year when I was here in the middle of the World Cup, Maccabi was drawn to play Ferencvaros and I had to go and see them play. This year, my bicycle brought me here. I’ve been on a bicycle tour for about a month and a half which began in Greece, we made our way to the Balkans and finally to Hungary. I was close to the point where I was supposed to make a left which was the original plan that would take me to Zagreb and if I decided to make a right I would head to Romania. I pitched my tent and then found out that Maccabi was going to play in Cluj in just a week. I realized that I could make it to the match and when I had to make a choice, it was an easy one. I rode for about a week, over 100km each day and now I’m in Cluj waiting for the match to begin. In total, I rode for about 3500km and the match made a for a terrific route.”
His unique hobby along the way:
“I collect football shirts that are Yellow & Blue. Over the past month I’ve been able to acquire 6-7 shirts. One is from a team in central Greece and I also found someone who I told that I was a Maccabi fan. A have another shirt from a small tam in Albania as well as Italy. Plus I purchased one in Kosovo of the National Team. I chose number 7 because of Eran Zahavi and Omer Atzili, two of my favorite Maccabi players. I have another shirt which is fantastic. It’s from a small village in western Romania. I saw the shirt at a match and I went across the village to organize a meeting with the coach from a team from the 5th division. He gave me the shirt as a gift and it was a XXL match shirt.”
Meeting Ben:
“Congratulations for your fantastic efforts. As an appreciation of your efforts we have a reward for you with a twist, a shirt from the cycling world (Chris Froome). You certainly deserve compliments and I am sure that with Vladen (Ivic) the players will also invest a similar effort. We are expecting a tough match and everyone is ready after two tough training camps, although nothing like you have done. We hope will now see it on the pitch.”
