Like an angel from heaven, who came down at the last minute to give you one last chance to correct the course of your life, that’s exactly how the courtships of Maccabi Haifa arrived Dia Saba. The Israeli striker is already 30 years old. Most of his career has not received the fame it deserves. But even now, Saba, they say, is in no hurry to jump at the opportunity to come to Maccabi Haifa, and be one of the heroes who will bring it the third championship in a row. As someone who is looking for recognition for his great talent, Saba should understand that this is exactly the stage to give up money in favor of recognition, and for that stamp he has been looking for almost his whole life. But as of this hour, Saba looks down more on the bolder offers than on the more correct ones.
Saba is perhaps the most striking example of one of the biggest diseases of an Israeli soccer player: excessive greed. For the avoidance of doubt, money is definitely an important goal in a footballer’s career. A contract that will fix you for life is definitely a serious consideration. But for too many Israeli players, this contract has become the main goal in their career. The professional consideration is often not even secondary. It is marginal, even non-existent. Thus, in a way that is hard to understand, he went on a forgotten adventure in China, shortly after he was the top scorer in Israel. Unlike his teammate from that team, Eran Zahavi, who won everything possible here, Saba has yet to fill a single shelf in his cabinet of titles. But Saba probably lacked the money, and instead of finding his place in Hapoel Be’er Sheva and becoming its new hero after 3 championships, Saba looked for his line of success in the bank statements.
That’s exactly how he signed with a team from the United Emirates, at an age that should be the peak of his professional career. Some tried to sell us this transfer as some historical detail about the first Israeli playing for a team from the United Arab Emirates, but no one shed a tear of excitement. Saba tried, perhaps, to convince us with pictures of luxury cars in the deserts of the Gulf, but they did not have too much influence on the public memory: because at the end of the history of sports, your titles and your successes are remembered on the field, not on the road.
After 49 appearances that no one is aware of their existence in El Nassar, Saba finally moved to a serious league, to the Turkish Sivasspor. He attributed the fact that no one in Israel was impressed by his trips to China and Dubai to deprivation. It is easiest to escape deprivation. It is much harder to take responsibility for your choices in life. As a player in the Turkish league, Saba returned to receiving attention for his work, but for some reason his path was accelerated again, and after half a season he announced that he would leave Sivasspor. Where is he rushing to again? No one knows except him and his agent. At first we were told that Turkey’s majors wanted him. But at his age, despite a fine balance of five goals and four assists, it is doubtful if any of them will go for him as a central player.
The option to return to one of the biggest teams in Israel is much more correct for a talented footballer like Saba. He made his money. He squeezed this lemon very nicely. It’s time for him to also think about fame, about the professional rationale, and winning the championship in Israel, with Maccabi Haifa or another team, will bring to seven the greatest satisfaction to which a true athlete should strive: achievements, recognition, a championship award and not another signing award. In 20 years no reporter will call you to reminisce about the nice contract you got in China or Dubai. But if you help Maccabi Haifa win its third title in a row, your stories will never cease to interest the public.
At the age of 30, Saba should understand that he will no longer have the opportunity to influence the story of his career thanks to his quick feet and skill in front of the goal. These qualities decay with age. It is very possible that another episode with some team in Turkey will win him more than a return to Israel, but such an episode will probably not last much longer. Those who manage their career in this way may very quickly discover the unpleasant side of this fast wheel.
Just before this wheel starts another round, Saba has the opportunity to turn everything back and complete what he had to do after he was the top scorer here in Maccabi Netanya: to show us that he can also be the king of the Israeli league. This kind of success clears up every mistake you made in your career, as several players who did this in Maccabi Haifa will surely testify.
