“Today, at the morning coffee, there was no sadness or disappointment. Everyone woke up with pride in their hearts and with lots of compliments and thanks for being part of this thing called Maccabi Haifa.” Despite the seven, Assi Abrahami is still optimistic
Published on: 26.10.22 11:12
I woke up this morning with a strange feeling. On the one hand, my team was defeated 7:2 and it’s not pleasant at all to concede seven goals, but on the other hand I saw one of the best football matches I’ve seen in many years. Messi, Neymar and Mbappe stole the show and reminded me and 6,000 other Haifa fans in Paris that we – Maccabi Haifa from Israel – play in the best league in the world against the best players in the world, and that we were privileged to see Leo Messi in one of the best games of his career.
On the eve of the game, the feeling in the city (at least among those who stayed in the city…) was that we were going to do it and score points in the Parc de France. We are good enough and strong enough to win there, and we have an entire army behind us that went to Paris. Maybe it’s the impressive victory over Juventus and maybe it’s a feeling of fanciful fans, but the talk was without a doubt that we’re coming back from France with points.
I, on the other hand, was very afraid of the game. I was afraid because I knew that PSG was fighting for first place and must have a goal difference. I was scared because I had seen articles in the French media that promised that the Parisians would come in a frenzy. I was afraid because they saw us in the first game at Sami Ofer and know that you cannot underestimate us as they underestimated us here in the first half. I was afraid because a few hours before the game I saw their lineup, and contrary to the talk about players saving their legs for the World Cup, the lethal trio starts in the lineup and is hungry for goals.
Unfortunately, the fear came true, and we caught Messi, Neymar and Mbappe in peak form and without a drop of mercy. But to my joy I saw an Israeli team that arrives in Paris and comes up with a very attacking lineup despite the significant absences of Daniel Sondgren and Dolev Haziza. I saw Barak Becher looking at the whites of Christophe Galtier’s eyes and wanting to win. And when you go up like that against one of the best teams in Europe, you know that it might also end in defeat.
Today, in the morning coffee, there was no sadness and disappointment. Everyone woke up with pride in their hearts and with lots of compliments and thanks for being part of this thing called Maccabi Haifa. Despite the result (what, they couldn’t stop after the fifth goal?), everyone wants us to continue playing the same way and with the same courage against Benfica in the last game of the group stage – a game that could bring us to the knockout stages of the Europa League.
And precisely because of all these, Yaakov Shahar must make a decision that his and our Maccabi will come to Europe every year and strengthen the team in the January window. The interest surrounding the group is unfathomable and world-wide. No Israeli team (and not many European teams) has brought 6,000 fans to an away game in the Champions League. Maccabi Haifa is already far beyond a city team, Maccabi Haifa is the state team.
So now face the game against Ashdod on Saturday. The league is our bread and butter, and only from first place at the end of the season will we be able to reach these positions again, but the heart and thoughts are already in the game against Benfica and the head doesn’t stop working – what do we have to do to make this week historic. In Sami Ofer everything is possible, I just want to keep dreaming.