Meanwhile, with the national team's break in full swing, on the occasion of the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, and the national team's game tomorrow (Tuesday, 25/3) against the strong Norwegian team in a game that will start at 21:45 PM, we also want you to get to know the Maccabi "Special Olympics" Haifa team, of the Maccabi Haifa Football Club, which just recently conquered the capital of the Negev in a tournament recently held for players with disabilities and special needs, a tournament in which teams from all over the country competed.
In the first game, the Greens faced "Maalot Ashdod", in which they managed to complete a turnaround and win the game 2:3. The second game was played as an exhibition game against the tournament volunteers "Kanfei Kashtari". The Green Maccabees were already 3:1 behind and in the last minute of the game managed to tie the score to 3-3. The third game was again played against Ashdod and ended 1-1. In the fourth and concluding game, the team played against "Gvanim Ashdod" and here too they ended in a 1-1 draw, with a great equalizer goal from a corner kick, right before the end of the game.
Maccabi "Special Olympics" Haifa finished a successful tournament without a loss and once again showed the other teams that football is a team game from the opening whistle to the last move. At the end of the tournament, the teams gathered for a summary speech and medals were awarded to all participants, but the highlight was the selection of the most outstanding player of the tournament and receiving the UEFA captain's armband from none other than the green captain, Amit Shaham.
At the end of the tournament, which was also extremely exciting, the team's coaches, Amir Shema and Rona Salem, said: "The feelings after the tournament are very positive. It was fun to see the players representing the club with pride. It's true that this is football and we always want to win, but we always remember the goal for which we came. The very fact that they knew how to deal with people without special needs, without feelings of inferiority, shows the path and process they are going through and their mental resilience to deal with difficulties, which makes us as a team feel great pride."
For Haifa football fans who don't know yet, we will tell you that Maccabi "Special Olympics" Haifa is a team of the Maccabi Haifa Football Club, created for players with disabilities and special needs, as part of a project by the global "Special Olympics" organization and has been operating for four years. The team trains once a week at the training field in "Katzaf" and is attended by about 19 players with disabilities aged 18 and over and about 10 players from the Maccabi Haifa Fans Association, who come voluntarily.
