Ofir Davidzada who captained Maccabi on the night and won 7 trophies in more than 200 appearances in Yellow and Blue, said after suffering a dramatic injury time exit: “The cup has its own rules. We knew it was going to be a tough match” Davidzada then refereed to the 4-0 league win over the Petah Tikva side at the beginning of last month. “They learned their lesson from the previous match, so they were positioned better this time.”
Davidzada, who joined Maccabi in 2017 and experienced a lot in seven seasons at the club, added: “This is football – it could be the prettiest thing but also the cruelest thing in the world. There is nothing one can do now, but we must deal with what had happened.”
With the Cup run now over, Maccabi will return its’ attention to the league as they host Maccabi Haifa for a top-of-the-table clash on Monday. “We have a very important match on Monday” Davidzada reflected: “We will draw our conclusions, as tomorrow is a new day and we will move on.”
On the way in which the extra time developed, Davidzada said: “We started well with a Dor Peretzgoal that was disallowed, but then their goal came out of nowhere and shuffled the cards. We tried to comeback, we pushed and were inches away from scoring a goal. I am proud of our team, especially at the way in which we tried to get back in the game. Ultimately it didn’t happen.”
Ahead of Monday’s match against second place Haifa that are 10 points adrift, Davidzada said: “We understand the importance of this match. Maccabi Tel Aviv is a big club, a winning club, and know the importance of a victory on Monday. We will do everything. We will draw the conclusions from this match and pick ourselves up. We have quite a few days before the match, and I have confidence in this team.”
