Maccabi Haifa lost last night (Tuesday, 24/5/2022) to Hapoel Beer Sheva in the final of the State Cup in soccer. After 2:2 in 90 minutes and no change in the result in the 30 minutes of overtime, the greens surrendered in the penalty shootout 3:1 and saw the trophy slip through their fingers. The game was held at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem in front of 29 thousand spectators. At the end of the game, the Reds shook the hand of the country's president Yitzhak (Boji) Herzog, who presented them with the trophy.
After winning the Champion of Champions and the Toto Cup earlier this season and the championship on Saturday, the Greens wanted to complete winning all 4 Israeli soccer titles in one season, and be the first to do so. Unfortunately, such an achievement will have to wait, after the Greens lost for the 11th time in their history in the cup final and are left with only 6 wins.
There is smoke, there is fire, there is no football
Due to the injuries of the first goalie Josh Cohen and the second goalie Roi Mishpeti, Roi Fuchs was placed in goal by Barak Becher. Also, Mahmoud Jaber started at the expense of Mohamed Abu Fani and San Menachem replaced Mikal Alfons on the left, which sent Jose Rodriguez to the right back position.
At the opening whistle, both audiences threw flares, which resulted in a 7-minute extra time for the half. The game was of poor quality, but in the 27th minute it took a turn. Losing a ball by San Menachem resulted in an offside ball in favor of Beer Sheva. Or Dedia sent a quick free kick, Eugene Ansa sent wide from the right and Ramzi Spuri scored from close range. Hapoel Be'er Sheva with a 1:0 advantage, a serious mistake by Menachem and his fellow defenders.
The champion had a single threat on the southerners' goal in the first half. In the 40th minute, Dolev Haziza sent a deep ball to Charon Sherry, and Omari Glazer stopped his kick. The former Haifa goalkeeper did not have to stretch his limbs beyond that. 1:0 to Be'er Sheva in a half that lasted 52 minutes instead of 45, a memory of the flares from the opening.
The greens seek equality
Before the start of the second half, Bakr threw Alfons and Neta Lavi into the fray at the expense of Menachem and Ali Muhammad. In the 48th minute, Lavi shot from outside the box and Glazer successfully deflected it. 3 minutes later Donio missed the hour mark from a difficult angle, and in the 54th minute Haifa received a penalty after Iyad Abu Abid tripped Jaber in the box. Atzili approached the white point and was accurate, 1:1 at Teddy.
In the 66th minute, Haziza found Alphonse shooting from the air, but Glazer made a great save, and Sherry was unable to push the ball into the net from Matar after the defense narrowly missed it. Beer Sheva punished and scored on its next attempt. In the 70th minute, Danilo Asperia picked up a free kick and Rotem Hatuel hit the net from close range. A bad cover by the defense and a bad stand by Fox gave LB a 2:1 advantage.
When it seemed that the trophy was going to the Bash, Haifa did not say desperate. A corner by Omar Atzili in the 87th minute found the head of Miguel Vitor and from there into the net. An own goal for the captain of the Reds, 2:2 in Teddy, and this was also the result of the end of the 90 minutes. We are going to overtime .
A dramatic and painful ending
The 30 minutes of overtime didn't provide too much, except for Fox's tip-off for Asperia's kick in the 116th minute. If no decision was reached at the end of 120 minutes, the two teams approached a duel from the penalty spot, as had already happened earlier this season between them in the final of the Toto Cup.
Danilo Asperia kicked the crossbar, Omri Glazer stopped Dolev Haziza and prevented Haifa's advantage. 0:0.
Tomer Yosef rolled to the net, and Muhammad Abu Fani did the same. 1:1.
Iyad Abu Abid met the net, Glazer deflected Godsavi Donio's kick. 2:1 for the Sabbath.
Helder Lopes withstood the pressure, Glazer prevents Mavis Chibuta from scoring and ends the story. 3:1 for the Sabbath, which wins and wins the state cup for the 3rd time in its history.
It was the 4th time in the history of Maccabi Haifa that it reaches penalties in the final of the State Cup. Unfortunately, her fate was the same as the previous times in 1987, 1989 and 2002: a loss. Also, the green double from 1991 (winning the championship and the state cup) remains the only one in the club's history.
This is where Maccabi Haifa's season ends. Despite the stinging disappointment, she must look at this season with great pride, as she won 3 titles, including the most important of all: the championship. The players went on vacation, and in mid-June they knew who their opponent would be in the 2nd qualifying round of the Champions League. Their European journey will begin in July, and they will also meet Hapoel Beer Sheva for the Champions League match. This will start the next season.
A bad team that won from the loser in a bad league where the others were a little worse than the worst Haifa
This is the summary of Israeli football
And those who wanted to see why this is not a champion team but a lousy league, got their defeat in the cup final.
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