Man of the hour. With three saves in the penalty shootout in the state cup final, Omri Glazer became the hero of Hapoel Beer Sheva yesterday (Tuesday) on the way to a third victory in the club’s history in the factory. In an interview with “Open Field”, the goalkeeper told about the psychological games that will deceive the Maccabi Haifa players, the tactics on penalties, the work with Aliniv Barda, Roni Levy and the victory over the ex in the green.
“Digestive? Slowly. Yesterday I did not quite understand what was happening,” said the excited goalkeeper at first, adding, “Slowly digesting, it’s great fun.”
On the “trash talk” he performed on penalties: “You have to get a little out of balance, a little psychological war. I think it’s something that’s very common, especially in a situation like this and I’m glad it helped me. It’s something that takes concentration, lowers confidence, and I’m glad it helped.
What did he say to the Haifa players: “I said ‘I know you’, ‘we trained together’, ‘I know where you’re kicking’. I told Mavis ‘this is a last penalty, so be careful not to miss’.
Glazer recounted why he celebrated with restraint in the first few seconds after pushing the decisive penalty: “I went to Daniel Bar Natan before the kick and asked him – ‘If I stop it ends right?’, So he said ‘yes’, so I told him ‘I stop’, he “He told me ‘no problem, just wait with the festivities, because there is a VAR.’
The goalkeeper said of his mindset ahead of the duel: “I was focused and wanted to bring the game. The penalty shooter has only what to gain – if you stop you come out big and if you absorb then it is not your fault. Every goalkeeper wants to get into this situation, especially in a cup final. “I’m glad this time it worked in our direction and in the end we came out with the trophy.”
But Glazer did not stand out only on penalties, when even before that he had a series of saves, in addition to the mistake that was part of the dramatic 2: 2 of Maccabi Haifa: “This is not an easy situation. In the 88th minute we already saw the title in our hand, I made some excellent saves. “Before and I felt inside the game. But mistakes are part of the game and I told myself that the game is not over, there is extra time and maybe penalties and I can bring this game. I did not lose confidence and concentration, I stayed focused and I’m glad it helped me.”
The method of stopping penalties: “I worked all week with goalkeeping coach Shai Hess, so he was twice in a duel he won and he went a certain way and not every kick to the body. At first the desire was to leap 5 times to a certain side, but at the end of the game I came to him and told him I was scared “That they will get over it in the fourth or fifth kick, so I leap three times to the right and the fourth to the left. He said to me: ‘I’m with you, go get a trophy.’
