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Maccabi aim at 'big sensation' Friday, 18 August 2006 by Paul Saffer & Ofer Ronen-Abels e-mailPrint Any team who draw Liverpool FC in the UEFA Champions League qualifying round are guaranteed a big occasion. But for Maccabi Haifa FC it represents so much more. For most of the past month Haifa was heavily involved in the hostilities that engulfed the region. With the northern Israeli port all but shut until last Monday's ceasefire, Maccabi temporarily relocated their training base more than 60km down the coast while their foreign players stayed in Tel-Aviv. And in the midst of all that they had a tie with Liverpool, with the first leg at Anfield on 9 August and the return, switched to Kiev, this coming Wednesday. While normal life, and training, has resumed in Haifa, ten of the squad have been away this week on international duty, providing a further delay to a return to normality. "A lot of people in Israel love Liverpool, they are a big club. Of course as a coach, sometimes you can get a big result and cause a big sensation"Roni Levy, Maccabi Haifa coach Coach's requent Before the first game Maccabi coach Roni Levy challenged his side "to get a result to give the people of Haifa a smile" - and they carried out his request. Gustavo Boccoli gave the visitors a surprise lead and even after Craig Bellamy's equaliser, Maccabi were just a few minutes from securing a famous draw when substitute Mark González's goal secured the 2005 champions a slender lead. The identity of their opponents had given the fixture extra spice, as Levy now reflects. "For Maccabi Haifa, for our fans, it was very, very nice to play against Liverpool," he told uefa.com. "A lot of people in Israel love Liverpool, they are a big club. Of course as a coach, sometimes you can get a big result and cause a big sensation." European experience While the events of the past few weeks have been largely unprecedented in the usually peaceful city, the club at least are used to overcoming obstacles in European competition. The UEFA competition regulars last played a continental game in their own stadium in 2001, since when they have been at 'home' in Cyprus, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Turkey, Tel-Aviv and now Ukraine. Even the last European match at their Kiryat Eliazer stadium ended unhappily as a 4-0 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round victory against FC Haka was turned into a 3-0 defeat for fielding an ineligible player. The winners had already been drawn against Liverpool, hence Levy's words that Haifa had "come full circle" as they were again paired with the Reds this season. "It is very nice for the players to play against a big club like Liverpool", he added. "Five years ago we lost the chance to play them, so now we have another chance." Group stage debut They proved their worth two seasons later when they became the only Israeli team to reach the group stage and, playing home matches in Cyprus, they defeated Manchester United FC and Olympiacos CFP by 3-0 scorelines. Although they lost 5-2 at Old Trafford, like last week Maccabi scored first, and both times were supported by an impressive number of green-clad fans. Despite the home situtation this time around, several hundred supporters still made the trip to Liverpool. One, 26-year-old student Nir Hoori, told the AFP news agency: "You just don't know how much we want to go to this game. Everyone at home wants to go but it is too expensive. I found out yesterday that a friend of mine - not a close friend, we weren't in touch much, but I used to work with him - was killed. It's pretty tough." The players felt the same way. Defender Alon Harazi said: "It has been a difficult time for all of us in the squad and it was very hard to prepare like this for a game against Liverpool. The conditions have not been ideal and we were not using our training ground." Yaniv Katan added: "As someone who lives in the town, it has felt uncomfortable." "Our players have a winning mentality, they are champions"Roni Levy Coach's optimism The switch to Kiev has severely limited the likely number of Maccabi fans that can afford to travel this week and the start of the Israeli Premier Division season has been put back due to the recent situation, yet Levy - who has guided Haifa to three league titles in succession - remains optimistic. "On the one hand I am disappointed - we led 1-0 and we were the better team, Liverpool didn't have a lot of chances but we lost 2-1," he said of the first leg. "But this result keeps us in contention. Our players have a winning mentality, they are champions. So even though we are playing Liverpool we are trying to think positively especially after the first leg. We have to score, so we cannot play negative football."

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Liverpool didn't deserve the penalty, Gerrard lost balance when he was going to shoot the ball, and the goalkeeper saved the ball easily.

Rob Styles is a moron, seriously.

Appauling game.
I'm not pleased.
Not the start we wanted for the PL is it.

It wasn't a penalty. Benitez's comments were ridiculous, he should have watched the video replay before opening his mouth to be honest. If that had been given against Liverpool he'd be furious about it and rightly so.

They can thank Rob Styles for that.

Well the ref had to do something to stop us beating one of the "big" clubs



I thought we hammered them in the first half and shouldn't have sat back after scoring. We always do that and it might have worked last season but this season if we're playin well we need to keep doing that and kill the game off by getting a second.

Still, although I'm gutted about being cheated out of a win, I'd have taken 1-1 before the match!!

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Originally posted by George Smiley Well the ref had to do something to stop us beating one of the "big" clubs I thought we hammered them in the first half and shouldn't have sat back after scoring. We always do that and it might have worked last season but this season if we're playin well we need to keep doing that and kill the game off by getting a second. Still, although I'm gutted about being cheated out of a win, I'd have taken 1-1 before the match!!

So your a Sheff Utd fan I'm guessing.
I have to say Sheff Utd definately proved a point and although it hurts to say, should have won that match.
I think you should still be very pleased with how you played, I said before the game that it shouldn't be hard for liverpool to win, BUT that United would be playing there hearts out and for that reason we should not have been too bigheaded, as that disallowed goal, even though offside by maybe a foot, shook Liverpool up, and was a very good goal and definately showed Liverpool that you weren't goign to be push-overs this season, and I think in the future games against bigger clubs this season the managers will be a bit more concerned about how their team will fair.

I hear United are 2/1 odds to be relegated this season, I don't see it myself if they continue to play as they did yesterday.

Carragher and Riise will be out for two weeks, most likely.

Liverpool were appalling yesterday, their defence wasn't great when Carragher was on, but it got worse when he departed. What the fuck was Aurelio playing at for Hulses goal? Benitez needs to get the defence playing like they did last season, because that was laughable.
As for the penalty, I'd feel aggreaved if it was against my team, but it's the letter of the law, the attempted challenge was never going to win the ball, and was only going to stop Gerrard by way of fouling him. Although there was no contact, the rules state it was a penalty so thats it. No point arguing, because thats fact.
As far as Sheffield United are concerned, they need to pick up as many points as they can in the first few games. The better sides aren't going to be as rusty 4/5 games in, and you're going to struggle.

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Originally posted by evil_bastard It wasn't a penalty. Benitez's comments were ridiculous, he should have watched the video replay before opening his mouth to be honest. If that had been given against Liverpool he'd be furious about it and rightly so.

And how the fuck do you know he was given a chance to do so ???

And how many managers do you know who don't even aknowledge "seeing" incidents which are controversial involving their team??

He's our manager, he's not paid to see things from anyone else's side for fuck's sake

Sheff United did realy well I thought. Its too early to judge who will stay up but they've defo got a chance. We were poor in the first half but picked up a bit in the 2nd. The new boys obviously need more time to bed in but I have no idea why he's playing Zenden in centre mid when we have Gerrard ready to step in for Alonso (stick Anderson or Pennant on the right).

If anyone wants to moan about the pen then moan at the fuckin ref. Nobody was cheated, Gerrard would almost certainly have burst the net if not for the challenge which put it off (and completely missed the ball). But of course its a massive grey area because althought he got FUCKING NOWHERE near the ball, he also only got minor/zero contact with Gerrard - but did manage to put him off his shot...

If I was a blade I'd have taken the penalty, I feel no guilt in doing so as a Liverpool fan

Good luck the rest of the year the blades

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PVD & M.I.K.E = GODs

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Originally posted by scAza And how the fuck do you know he was given a chance to do so ??? And how many managers do you know who don't even aknowledge "seeing" incidents which are controversial involving their team?? He's our manager, he's not paid to see things from anyone else's side for fuck's sake

It's not difficult to say "I'd have to see the video footage but from where I was it looked like a definite penalty". That way if you're wrong you don't have egg on your face. You hear this a lot of the time. Saying people should have been sent off when you obviously haven't seen the footage can leave you looking a bit silly at the end of the day.

It was the same with Paul Jewell after our game. Usually Jewell's very down to earth and dignified after Wigan's games but he was harping on about Kirkland getting injured. What he failed to mention was that Kirkland finished the game while Ameobi had to be substituted off as a result of that challenge. He made them sound hard done by and while I think it was a case of ball to hand for the Bramble handball incident, I've seen them given. But Jewell also failed to mention Luque's disallowed goal, even though replays showed he was actually onside (Match of the Day didn't even show this - it was a cracking finish). I agree that it's rare for a manager not to wholeheartedly support his team, but you shouldn't be stating things as fact and getting worked up in front of the camera until you're sure you know what you're talking about.

Regarding the letter of the law being applied, it's a case of interpretation. I doubt Morgan intended to trip Gerrard, so I don't know why Styles was talking about intent. The challenge was late, but the question is do you say that the shot on goal was 'played advantage' or do you give the penalty? I don't think it's such a clear cut decision, I think a lot of referees would have played advantage. It's yet another rule which the FA must clear up because different referees will interpret it differently. But one thing is clear, any side would feel hard done by to see that given against them and it would have caused much less controversy had he not given the penalty. It was a difficult decision for Styles which is why I think the FA needs to be more clear about these scenarios.

Last edited by evil_bastard on Aug-21-2006 at 02:46

^oh behave you blert, Warnock stated "AS FACT" that it was "DEFINATELY NOT" a penalty, why don't you have a go at him? Its down to interpretation and the ref' interpreted it as a pen. Good on him I say

^I failed to read all of your post before I read that, you're last paragraph seems a bit more agreeable

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PVD & M.I.K.E = GODs