Maccabi Haifa will resume training today (Tuesday) and begin preparations for the match against Hapoel BS on Saturday. Last night in Carmel they saw how the leader Maccabi Tel Aviv stumbled against the Reds from the south and the gap at the top was reduced to seven points with 21 left in the pot.
A celebratory toast was made at the club, Yaakov Shahar congratulated the families on the occasion of the holiday and said, among other things: “I was told that the club is big and now I look at all of you and the club is huge. I wish all of us to pass this holiday in peace and quiet and have a happy holiday. We are nearing the end of the season and I want To thank you for the blessed work you do, whether it’s on the field or off it.”
Vice President of Maccabi Haifa Uzi Mor added: “Passover is supposed to be the holiday of freedom, but do we feel the freedom? Each of us, even if he is not personally connected to the abductees nor to the soldiers who were killed, feels a weight that sits in the heart. I don’t think there is anyone who feels freedom. Until we see the kidnapped return home, we will not be able to celebrate freedom.”
The team said this morning: “The fight will be until the end, we knew there would be stumbles. We will try to fix the remaining time until the gap that has been created. We will have to do the work and hope that things will happen. We have a tough game on Saturday against B.S. who wants to and is only four points away from us.”
Abdulai Sak, who served a suspension in the game against Bnei Sakhnin, will be available to Masai Dago for the upcoming game. Pierre Cornot, who injured his Achilles tendon in the warm-up, and Ali Muhammad, who injured his foot, are expected to be fit for the game.
The one who won’t be eligible is Anan Halaili and for the professional team this is quite a headache, since since the departure of Charon Sherry he is the leading player in the green ranks. He scored five of the last nine goals scored by the champions in all competitions.
The wing positions are the shortest for the Greens from the start of the season. Ilai Hajjaj returned to play after about three and a half months, but it seems that it is too early to give him the team shirt, as Danil Lasvoi is very disappointing and suffering an injury. The situation leaves Dago with few options such as moving Lior Rafalov and Gadi Kinda from the midfield to the wings, or placing Kenny Seif and Sof Podgrano.
In the upcoming training sessions, Dago will try to find the right lineup and formation for the game against Hapoel BS, a game that the Greens must win to stay in the championship fight.
In the meantime, Maor Borg, who is considered Gal Alberman’s assistant and is responsible for the Hapoel Afula subsidiary project, has an offer to serve as the professional manager of Bnei Yehuda next season if this secures their qualification to the Premier League.